What Dreams May Come
by Makattack
Summary: Aislinn has lived her life at the Isle of Blessed, amongst the people of the Old Religion. What will come of the young seer when she moves to Camelot, to live amongst ordinary people, based on a vision within her dream? - ArthurxOC
1. Chapter 1: The Dream

**Merlin belongs to BBC! I only really own Aislinn. **

_Cheering, the people were cheering._

_They were cheering for a man, sat on the back of a white horse with a look of determination on his face. Everything about him radiated authority and courage. His handsome face was full of confidence as he beamed down upon his people._

"_This is not the end. It's a new beginning. Camelot will rise to power once again, and we will all work together to ensure that it happens."_

_His words were followed by even more cheering._

"_And the new Camelot, will welcome the Old Religion with open arms. We will _all_ work together, to ensure that Camelot is a Kingdom where no one will live in fear again!" _

_He raised his sword high up in the air and the cheering grew, as if it could be possible, even louder. He beamed at his people at they chanted his name and called him their saviour._

_His eyes shifted from his people and instead fell upon a man, shorter than him, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. They shared a look between them; a more solemn look than the King on the horseback had given to his people. There was a sorrow in the smiles of the two men as they looked at one another, and yet, as they looked back at the cheering people, the sadness in their smiles faded away._

Aislinn turned in her bed, feeling the sun that swarmed in through her window blaze against her skin. She opened her brilliant blue eyes, her lips already curved into a smile.

She knew what she'd seen now wasn't just a dream.

It was the future: a future where _her_ people and the people of the Kingdom lived side by side. A future that she was told would never happen.

She took a deep breath, as she sat up in her bed, holding onto her blanket as she stared out of her window and across to the sea.

Aislinn was going to Camelot.

**I'm new to this whole fanfiction writing thing, so sorry if my writing's not quite there yet! Reviews would be lovely, seeing as I'm going to need all the help I can get! **


	2. Chapter 2: Magical

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only really own Aislinn. **

It was… _magical._

There was no other word for it. Aislinn walked through the busy streets of Camelot, her face guarded by a navy cloak as she tried to soak in everything that she saw.

There were so many _people_. She'd never, ever been exposed to such a vast number of people before. They were just… _everywhere_. Children were running around carelessly, chasing each other and laughing themselves silly, and then there were the slightly older people, who moved busily trying to get their day to day chores done; some occasionally stopped when they saw a familiar face or two, and spent some time exchanging a few words before hurrying off to carry on with their chores. All the voices, the laughter, the shouting and the humming of the people blended into a rhythmic hum; it was almost impossible to separate one conversation from another, even if the listener tried their hardest.

This was all so different, _so new._

Aislinn had never been in a market place before. She'd never set foot in a place where people had to nudge past one another while they were in a hurry, or stop to make way for horses as they patrolled the streets.

Back home, there were never enough people in one place to ever allow such an obscure level of noise to occur, and even if you did manage to gather enough people in one place, they all spoke in such a formal and polite manner, that you would have thought they were all strangers. Not that they all didn't care for one another, oh no, they all cared a lot, but… their mannerisms were different to that of these people.

This was all so wonderful, so different, _so very magical!_

Or so Aislinn thought, until her eyes fell upon what looked like wooden plank with three holes in it, supported by wooden poles. Aislinn didn't recognise what this queer thing was, but as she stared more intently at it, the fate of the wooden device flashed before her eyes.

A sharp sensation shot through her mind and she came to a halt besides the wooden device.

_The wooden plank was no longer empty. Instead, the three holes now consisted of a hand, a head, and another hand, all seemingly belonging to the same man. A young man, with dark hair and blue eyes; he had a look of amusement lurking in his face, however the amusement was mixed with something a little more serious: apprehension. _

_She knew this man; she'd seen him before; she'd seen him before she'd left her home. But, why was he cuffed into this strange device?_

"_Oh come on… not the potatoes again!" he called out, with a somewhat stern look flashing across his face._

_Laughter followed his words, and little children, who stood a few feet across from him, started to through all kinds of fruits and vegetables at the young man's head._

Aislinn was bought back to the present time with a hand falling on her shoulder. She jumped back, flinching away from the person who was touching her.

"I think you should move, miss." A man clad in Knight Armour looked at Aislinn with a lopsided grin. "I wouldn't stand so close to the stocks if I were you. It's going to be occupied rather soon."

Stocks. That's what these things were called. "What do you mean… occupied?" Aislinn asked carefully, not moving from the place where she stood. "What are these… stocks, used for?"

The Knight looked confused; he couldn't quite make out whether this woman in a Navy travelling cloak was actually being serious or simply mocking him. "As a punishment, of course." He said, his tone mirroring his confused expression.

Aislinn was going to press the Knight for a better explanation, however, just then, two other men, clad in the same Knight armour entered the scene, dragging the same young man that she'd seen in her mind a moment ago.

"Can't you just… tell Arthur you put me in the stocks but not actually do it?" He asked, with a half hopeful expression on his face as he tried to talk to the two Knights who had idiotic smiles plastered on their faces. "I mean, I forgot to wash one shirt. I really don't think being put in the stocks is fair punishment for one shirt!" The dark haired man seemed desperate to negotiate, however the Knights wouldn't hear of it.

Aislinn watched in horror as they cuffed him into the Stocks, and the vision she'd had a moment ago unfolded once again, before her very eyes.

**Still a complete newbie to fanfic writing; any constructive criticism is more than welcome!**


	3. Chapter 3: Physician

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only really own Aislinn!**

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><p>"Really, it's not that big a deal." Merlin said as he tried to pick bits of rotten fruits and vegetables out of his hair.<p>

"Not a big deal?" Aislinn was still absolutely gobsmacked by the scene that she'd witnessed. It wasn't really all that much to do with her vision, seeing as she was used to seeing things before they happened ever since birth. The problem here was that she could not _believe_ that they would cuff an actual human being into those… those _stocks_ and then throw rotten fruits and vegetables at them. "They practically assaulted you with those fruits! And I'm very sure that some of those children had potatoes- _hard_ potatoes!"

Merlin couldn't help but laugh at how appalled she was. "Yeah, they do that sometimes. But it's alright, you get used to it after a while." He said this with a wide, amused grin on his face. Aislinn just couldn't figure out how he managed to do that.  
>"I don't see why you're so shocked though. Surely you've seen that happen before? I've heard that in most Kingdoms they stock people a lot more frequently."<p>

"I…" Oh. So this was the norm in most of the land? Despite being psychic, Aislinn hadn't a clue about the different things which she'd be facing when she left the Isle.  
>"Where I'm from, they just tend to… give us extra chores as a form of punishment." That was a blatant lie. They didn't <em>do<em> chores where Aislinn came from. The snap of their fingers did it for them. Mostly, children who wielded magic were barred from doing magic for a certain amount of time, and the others were just sent to their chambers. "Humiliation doesn't really come into play."

"Oh don't worry. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting extra chores too." Merlin said, more to himself than her. Aislinn looked as if she was going to begin complaining once again about how queer this place was, but Merlin came to a halt and spoke first. "And, here we are!"

Aislinn watched as Merlin opened the door to the court physician's chambers, peeping in to check whether Gaius was in. He was.  
>"Come on in!" he held the door open for Aislinn to walk in.<p>

Aislinn lowered her hood for the first time since she'd step foot into Camelot, to reveal her chocolate brown hair, falling in soft waves against her pale skin. Her eyes fell on the man in the room, who she assumed would be Gaius. He was old, so very old, with grey hair and a constant air of worry surrounding him.

"Who's your friend, Merlin?" Gaius asked, his voice sounding both confused and surprised. His eyes were fixed on her innocent face. He tore his eyes away from her face and looked over at Merlin, and no sooner did he do that, he sighed. "Oh Merlin, what on earth did you do _this_ time?"

Merlin was grinning sheepishly once again. "I think Arthur just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Merlin rolled his eyes.  
>"And, this is…" he stopped and looked over at Aislinn, apologetically. The two of them had been speaking since he had been freed from the stocks, however they never did get around to exchanging names.<p>

"Aislinn. I'm, Aislinn." She responded promptly, smiling at Merlin. "It's alright: you don't need to look so apologetic. You were too busy informing me of your strange traditions to get a chance to ask me for my name."

Gaius watched the two speak carefully, wondering why Merlin had bought a stranger to these chambers. "Very well, you better go clean yourself up Merlin. We can't have you running around smelling like a rotten vegetable all day." Gaius shook his head hopelessly at Merlin, and watched him go over to wash his face.

_I've come from the Isle of Blessed, Gaius. I was hoping you could offer me a place to stay._

Gaius all but jumped as he heard the girl's voice in his mind. He turned around hastily, to find that Aislinn hadn't moved at all. She was simply standing there, looking hopeful. A part of Gaius was cowering into fear as he stared at the girl. "Who are you?" he whispered, keeping his voice as low as he possibly could to ensure that Merlin did not hear him.

_I'm Aislinn. A seer, from the Isle of Blessed; I promise, I'm not here to cause any trouble. I've… I've seen things that lead me to believe that there is a future for my people here Gaius, a future where we live in peace with those in the kingdom.. I assure you, I'm _not_ here to cause trouble. I'm just here to see whether that future really is a possibility. _

Aislinn stared at Gaius with confidence. She knew what she'd said would convince Gaius. Being a seer had its benefits. She could see how her words, how her actions, would affect a person.

After a long pause, Gaius nodded. "Very well." He whispered. He cleared his throat, and spoke in a much louder, more conversational voice this time.  
>"I'm glad to hear about your interest in Medicine, Aislinn. Goodness knows I could do with <em>more help around here.<em>" The last few words were spoken in an even more exaggerated manner, towards the door behind which Merlin was still cleaning himself.

Aislinn's eyes widened as she looked at Gaius. Medicine? _Medicine?_ Aislinn didn't know the first thing about Medicine; she was a _Seer_, for crying out loud. Medicine was what the _Druids_ were good at. Not _seers._ "Medicine?" she mouthed, incredulously at Gaius, trying to work out what he was doing here.

"You need a reason to stay here," he whispered back, an almost mischievous smile playing on his lips. "And I think you ought to make yourself useful, seeing as you're planning on sticking around for a while."

Aislinn did _not _find this amusing in the slightest. How was she to assist a man with _Medicine,_ when she knew absolutely nothing about it? "Uh, what can I say, I've just always wanted to… help… people." Not that Aislinn wanted to be rude; but where she came from, most people merely looked after themselves. And if anyone _did _fall ill, the druids would often heal them in no time at all. There was really no need for people to actually learn _medicine_ as a subject.

"What's going on?" Merlin was back, with damp hair and his sheepish smile plastered on his face.

"Aislinn here is a daughter of a friend of mine." Gaius said simply, his eyes staying fixed on Aislinn with a good measure of amusement as she tried to fix her bewildered expression to one of norm. "She's interested in becoming a Physician." His smile stretched wider on his face, as Aislinn tried her hardest not to scowl at him.  
>"She'll be sticking around for a while. She's going to be my apprentice."<p>

"Oh, great; welcome to a life of misery… and misery, Aislinn. He'll be making you work day and night!" Merlin's voice sounded strangely optimistic as he said those words, and despite herself, Aislinn laughed.

**Reviews are always appreciated! Please feel free to point out anywhere that I'm going wrong! **


	4. Chapter 4: Twig

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only really own Aislinn!**

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><p>"And guess what he did when I asked him to not to walk on the floor because I'd just washed it." Merlin said, in a bit of a rhetorical manner, and Aislinn simply looked up at him with quizzical eyes. "He picked up the bucket of water, and threw it over my head."<p>

"He didn't!" Aislinn's jaw dropped as she looked at Merlin in disbelief. She no longer wore her travelling cloak; instead she was clad in a simple, sleeveless pale blue dress, which matched the colour of her eyes. "He sounds absolutely _awful!_" Aislinn shrieked as she followed Merlin up a flight of stairs with a somewhat disgusted look on her face.

Merlin was laughing once again, ever so amused by this strange girl. To him, Aislinn just seemed rather… naïve. Despite how much he complained about Arthur, he knew that there were other Kings and Princes who treated their servants far worse than Arthur treated him, which is why he found it quite amusing when Aislinn behaved as if she hadn't heard of anyone being mistreated in her life. It was like she came from a land where there weren't any servants; a land where everyone lived in luxury. "Nah, he isn't that bad." Merlin said fairly, "he just tends to have his good days and bad days. Today seems to be a bad one."

Aislinn shook her head as the reached a landing, and began to walk down a long corridor. "I don't think _anyone_ has the right to treat someone else that badly, though!" She really was astounded by all that she'd heard about this… Arthur. He sounded arrogant and completely and utterly spoilt. She assumed he was probably a Knight; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get his fellow Knights to cuff Merlin into the stocks, but still… Knight or no Knight, he just sounded like a terrible person.

But at least Aislinn knew that someday, Merlin would no longer be serving _this_ Arthur. Instead, he'd be standing by the side of _King_ Arthur. By God, how different two people with the same name could be.

"Let us just hope your opinion of him doesn't change, once you see him." Merlin said, interrupting Aislinn's thoughts.

"Oh I highly doubt that." She said with a defiant look on her face as she looked up at Merlin. "I can't think of any reason as to why I would _ever_ like a man like that!"

"I can," Merlin muttered, rolling his eyes. When Aislinn's look of defiance turned into a look of confusion, he sighed. She really _was_ naïve. "Women tend to find him rather attractive."

"_Oh._" Why couldn't she use her foresight at will? It would really save her the embarrassment of situations like this. "Well, a person's looks aren't everything. Their personality counts for a lot more."

Merlin scoffed, but was saved the interrogation that would follow from Aislinn when he came to a halt outside a door. "Brace yourself," he whispered dramatically, "we're going in!"

Aislinn smiled coyly at him, impressed by his ability to dodge her questions.

"Arthur?" Merlin called out as he opened the door.

"About time you got here," the voice that replied from within the room was a drawl, "I was beginning to think that the children had somehow managed to kill you, with rotten fruits and vegetables." Merlin rolled his eyes as he walked in, "Now that I think of it… that _could_ actually have happened." His tone of voice was taunting, and as Aislinn followed Merlin in, she noticed an arrogant, sarcastic smile stuck on the speaker's face.

"Ha ha _ha._" Merlin's tone of voice was dry as headed over to fix Arthur's bed. Aislinn remained still by the door.

"Who's your friend Merlin?"

Merlin looked up from the bed to address Arthur, only to find that Arthur and Aislinn seemed to have their eyes glued upon one another. However what he didn't see from where he stood, was the complete contrast in the two people's expressions.

No sooner did Aislinn see Arthur's face, did she stop. This wasn't right. There _had_ to be a mistake. The Arthur that Merlin spoke about couldn't be… it couldn't be _the _Arthur; the Arthur from her vision. No… that was impossible. The man who Aislinn saw had been kind, brave and just; unlike this man who stood before her, who was snide, spoilt and arrogant. And yet, they looked identical.

She was staring at him, because she was absolutely astounded.

The look on Arthur's face, however, was more so approval than astonishment. She was pretty, _very _pretty. Although not in the normal sense; she wasn't gifted with perfect curves and she had a very plain face, and yet, it seemed that her simplicity was what made her stand out. She looked so innocent; so elegant.

Merlin cleared his throat, to break the silence that now gripped Arthur's chamber. "Arthur, this is Aislinn. Aislinn, _this_ is Arthur." Merlin's voice seemed to bring Aislinn back to Earth, and she hurried to focus her gaze on the window behind Arthur instead. Oh, none of this made sense.

"Aislinn, who?" Arthur was still staring at Aislinn, with a small smile creeping up on his face. He thought he'd made her feel shy. If only.

"What d'you mean, Aislinn, who?" Aislinn looked away from the tree and back at Arthur's face, her gaze no longer holding the same amount of intensity as it had done a moment ago. Instead, she just looked confused.

"Don't you have a second name?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oh right. Family names: most people had them, didn't they? _Argh._ Why must their cultures be so different? At the Isle, people simply went by their first name and their title. Everyone knew her as Aislinn the Seer. Somehow, saying that to Uther Pendragon's son, didn't sound so smart.

Her eyes searched around the room for an answer, as she mentally cursed herself. Why couldn't her visions show her events like _this?_

"That's alright, take your time."

Argh. His _voice._ It just sounded so _amused._ Argh, argh, argh. Her eyes fell on the window once again; all she could see was a Tree; and leaves. Leaf. She could tell him her surname was Leaf… oh, what was she thinking? What kind of a stupid second name was _Leaf? _Panicking slightly, Aislinn said the next word that popped into her head. Oh, how she regretted that.

"Twig."

"I'm sorry?" It was Arthur's turn to be confused. Merlin wore a similar expression to Arthur.

"My second name… it's Twig." Oh, and she repeated it. Why?

"Your name… is Aislinn _Twig?_" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, what's wrong with the second name Twig?" Her voice was demanding once again. It had regained its confidence.

"Nothing…" Arthur hurried to say. "It's just a little… unusual." A coy smile curved its way on Arthur's lips. "And it doesn't really suit you."

Merlin couldn't help roll his eyes. _Of course,_ he was flirting with her.

"Well, _your _name hardly suits _you._" She shot back, determined to make it clear that she was _not _going to put up with any of his little remarks. "If second names _suited_ people, yours would be _Pompous_ not _Pendragon._"

Merlin couldn't help but laugh, and Arthur picked up a boot that was lying on the floor besides him and threw it over at Merlin's head to shut him up. He did so without looking.

"Are you calling me Pompous?" he asked, his voice losing its humour. He just sounded ridiculed now.

"I believe I am."

"Merlin, _why_ is she here?" Pretty or not, Arthur was not going to have a _woman_ stand there and insult him.

"She's Gaius' friend's daughter. She's here as Gaius' appr-"

"I don't mean why she's in _Camelot_ you complete idiot. I mean, what is she doing in my chamber?"

"Oh, she offered to help me out with my chores. She's got some free time on her hands."

"You're taking help from a _girl?_"

"Is there something wrong with being a girl?" Aislinn never had been one to hold her tongue.

"No one's talking to you." Arthur spat.

"But _I'm _talking to _you._ You _really_ need to learn how to address people properly!"

"_Me? _Address people _properly? _Oh, _that's it._" He turned around sharply to look at Merlin. "I want _all_ my clothes washed, I want _all_ my armour polished and I want you to make sure my stables are sparkling clean." He diverted his gaze to look at Aislinn. "You wanted to help Merlin; you've got your wish."

His words didn't seem to have the desired effect on Aislinn as she stood there, scowling at the Prince of Camelot. She was far too mad to process anything he'd just said. Merlin, on the other hand, looked outraged. "I just did all your laundry! And I polished your armour two days ago!"

"I don't care! Do it again."

Merlin looked over at Aislinn, with a desperate look. "Aislinn didn't mean any of what she just said; did you Aislinn? You were just… speaking nonsense. _Weren't you?_"

"For _hell,_ I was! I meant every word."

Arthur's infamous sarcastic smile which he wore when he addressed Merlin was back on his face, this time however, it was aimed at Aislinn. "I want _all_ of that done by the end of today. Now get to work! _Both_ of you!"

Arthur turned around to spare Merlin a glance before storming out of his Chamber. Aislinn was staring at the door with spite; she couldn't _believe _that anyone could be that insufferable. Surely, there was something wrong with her vision. This arrogant, sarcastic, _pompous_ man could _never_ be the great King who would bring Magic back to the Kingdom.

Behind Aislinn, Merlin had taken to the floor, burying his face in his hands.

It was going to be a long day.

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><p><strong>Reviews are always appreciated!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Wind

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only really own Aislinn.**

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><p>It was nearing dusk and a cool breeze was blowing in through the open window in Arthur's chamber.<p>

Aislinn and Merlin sat on the floor, both covered in faint polish marks. Merlin sat cross legged with metal armour on his leg and a cloth with which he polished the armour. Aislinn on the other hand was leaning against the wall, with her legs outstretched in front of her with a boot lying besides her. She sighed as she reached out to grab it and placed it carelessly on the floor next to her and began to polish it with a cloth of her own.

"I don't know how you manage to do _all_ of this by yourself." Aislinn spoke in a defeated voice, glaring at the boot as if she could rip it to shreds any moment now.

"Well, normally I do all this work over a week." He said, yawning, looking like he himself may bring some harm to the metal armour which he polished. "But… well, Arthur was just in a bad mood anyway, and then…" Merlin shrugged.

Aislinn looked up at Merlin, an apologetic look on her face. "Aw, I'm really sorry- again. I know this is my fault." She sighed as she gave up on the boot temporarily and fiddled subconsciously with the cloth. "It's just- _Arthur_, he's just so…" Aislinn's face was annoyed once again as she searched for a good enough word to describe him.

"_Pompous?_" Merlin offered with a cheeky smile on his face. Aislinn caught his eye and the two pairs of blue eyes gazed at one another for a moment before they both burst out laughing.

"He deserved it." Aislinn said defensively, still giggling.

"Not disagreeing." He responded, still chuckling himself with a wide grin spread over his face. "The first time I met him, he had me thrown in dungeons for calling him an ass and then trying to hit him."

Aislinn's jaw dropped, "Well, well Merlin. Who knew you had it in you?" she joked, her smile still prominent on her face. "I have to say though, I think I got let off quite easy," she shook her head, "_dungeons._ You know, that really _shouldn't_ surprise me at this stage, but it still does. He really _is_ an ass: a _pompous_ ass."

"You didn't quite think so when you first saw him." He hinted subtly, a somewhat smug yet envious look on his face. He'd forewarned Aislinn that many women tended to fall prey to Arthur's looks, before they went in and he'd actually believed that she _may_ just have been the one girl who defied that rule, but alas, he was proven wrong.

Arthur always got the girls. No exceptions.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked taken aback, turning to look at him.

Merlin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You two had your eyes glued onto one another. Don't deny it; I could see it rather blatantly."

Aislinn stared at Merlin in disbelief for a moment, expecting him to laugh and say that he was only joking, but when he held his expression, _she_ was the one who was giggling. "Oh Merlin," she said shaking her head. "I wasn't staring at him because I thought he was _attractive._" Aislinn hadn't considered how odd Arthur and she must have seemed, with their gazes fixed on one another; but then again, she was a little preoccupied with her thoughts at the time. "It was just…" Well, she couldn't quite tell him that she was trying to compare the Arthur that she saw to the Arthur in her vision. _Merlin_ would probably have her thrown in the dungeons for that.

"It was just…?" It seemed like she was telling the truth, to Merlin, but he still wanted a better explanation out of her.

"It's hard to explain," She concluded diplomatically, "but I can assure you, it was _not_ because I found him attractive."

"Mhm," Merlin didn't sound like he really believed her and Aislinn was about to fight her case, but that was when Arthur came in.

The sight before him wasn't what he had been expecting. Merlin and Aislinn both had smiles stuck on their faces, and they both genuinely looked like they were having a good time albeit their slightly faces. His room was cleaned spotless and the majority of his armour was gleaming on the table. It seemed like Merlin and Aislinn were almost done. He'd checked on his stables already and it had already been mucked out, and all of his clothes that had been lying around the room earlier today, were no longer to be seen, so Arthur could only assume that they had in fact managed to do the laundry too. And despite all of that, they looked _happy_.

"Having fun are you?" He crossed his arms across his torso as he moved forward to lean against a cupboard which was closer to where Merlin and Aislinn worked.

"Yeah, the time of our lives, thanks." Merlin looked up at Arthur with a smug smile playing on his lips, while Aislinn resumed the polishing of the boot. She did _not_ want to get into a conversation with him, because she knew it wasn't likely to end well if it did.

"I see you've managed to complete almost everything I told you to," Arthur's tone sounded almost bitter.

"Well, what can I say; we just make a good team, don't we Aislinn?" Merlin grinned, "And I've got to say, it wasn't actually all that bad, doing all this work today: it was actually kind of fun." Merlin and Aislinn exchanged an amused glance.

Arthur's expression became absolutely flabbergasted at the word '_fun._' "Well, then I'm sure you won't mind polishing one more pair of boots, Merlin." Arthur pulled off his boots with dry dirt on them and threw them both, one after the other at Merlin's head.

Arthur's sarcastic smile was back in place and Merlin's face no longer looked so smug. Aislinn couldn't help but look absolutely disgusted. Before she could say anything about it however, a sharp sting shot through her mind, and her hands immediately dropped the cloth and shot up to her temples.

_She was still in the same room; everything was exactly the same as it had been a moment ago, except she was now looking at the scene as an onlooker and Arthur was kneeling besides her looking at her in a somewhat concerned manner; the look seemed almost alien to his face. He sighed, before turning around and making his way towards his bed. Merlin's eyes shifted to look at Aislinn, who was staring in a very annoyed manner at Arthur's back.  
><em>

_His eyes lingered on her for a moment with slight concern: but he would check up on her later. His face said so. Making sure that she wasn't looking at him, Merlin's eyes fixed themselves on the thin stand which held a candlestick on it. His iris changed colour, and as his eyes moved from the candle stick to the floor, the stand followed. Arthur, being caught completely by surprise, ended up tripping over the stand, however, being gifted with quick reflexes, he managed to save himself the fall._

Aislinn was bought back to the present time with a gentle shake; however the grip around her shoulder was firm. She opened her eyes to find Arthur's blue eyes staring at her, full of concern. The look mirrored the one she'd just seen in her vision; however, it felt different, actually seeing him right there in front of her, with his arm on her shoulder. His look felt more intense. She stared back regardless, her face relaxing a little.

"Are you alright?" he asked, still staring at her.

"I'm fine," she replied, "you can let go of my shoulder now."

It seemed like Arthur had only just realised how close to Aislinn he was. He let go off her shoulder almost immediately, but didn't move from his place. From the corner of her eye, she saw Merlin, on his knees, but Arthur's arm was held out, preventing him from coming much closer. "What just happened?" He actually sounded worried.

Aislinn couldn't help but scoff. "You don't have to act like you care," Okay, so perhaps that was a little harsh of her- but, as far as she was concerned, he deserved it. Arthur rolled his eyes, but still didn't move. She sighed. "I'm fine," she muttered, "It was just a slight headache. I tend to get them quite frequently." Her tone was dismissive.

Arthur sighed, unable to understand this girl, while Merlin couldn't help but feel kind of smug by how taken aback Arthur looked due to her lack of gratitude and the command in her voice. Merlin knew Aislinn wasn't being harsh for the hell of it; he hadn't been Arthur's greatest fan when he'd first met him either.

Arthur couldn't help but wonder why Aislinn seemed to dislike him so much without really knowing him. The look that she gave him... it just made him feel like she felt he wasn't quite… up to scratch: like she was disappointed that he wasn't something more. It intrigued him, but it also frustrated him. After all, who was she to judge him, before she even got to know him?

"Most people would have just said thanks, you know." He commented, with a sigh.

"I'm not most people."

He stared at her for a moment, concern still in his eyes, before he got up and she watched his back as he began to make his way to his bed.

And then it happened: her vision. The stand fell; Arthur tripped.

Aislinn's eyes immediately flew over to see Merlin who looked more than amused. Merlin had just got payback for the boots being thrown at him.

Arthur cursed under his breath, turning around to find a very amused Merlin staring at him. "Don't just look at me, you idiot! Shut the window!"

"As you wish, sire," Merlin got up from where he sat, and walked over to the window besides which Aislinn was sat, before leaning over to shut the window. Aislinn's eyes didn't move from Merlin as she watched him make the journey.

She knew it wasn't _wind_ that had caused that stand to fall.

It was Magic.

**I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Please let me know what you think of it!  
>Reviews are much loved! <strong>


	6. Chapter 6: Dance, Magic, Dance

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only own Aislinn!**

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><p>No sooner did Merlin open the door, did Gaius' voice come floating over to them. "Merlin, Aislinn? Where have you two been all day?" The two of them entered the room and Gaius' expression switched from inquiring to rather confused. "And oh for the life of me, what have you two been doing?" Gaius was giving Aislinn a look that rather clearly said <em>not you too.<em>

Aislinn and Merlin hadn't quite realised it, but both their faces did have quite a bit of polish smudged here and there. Their faces looked like they'd been up a chimney. "Arthur's mood just got worse as the day went on." Merlin said, yawning as he made for the small table in the room. "What's for dinner?"

Before Merlin could sit down however, Gaius pulled him from the collar of his shirt. "Not just yet Merlin," Gaius thrust something against Merlin's chest. "I'd like you to take this to Morgana for me." His eyes shifted over to Aislinn, "And you may as well take Aislinn with you. I'm assuming she hasn't met Gwen yet."

"Seriously? Aislinn can meet Gwen tomorrow! The two of us just spent the day mucking out stables… well, only _I _did that, cleaning Arthur's room, doing his laundry _and_ polishing all his armour! Can't you take it to Morgana?" Merlin did not look pleased in the slightest.

"And you're still standing Merlin. If you have the energy to yell at me, I'm going to assume you have the energy to go to Morgana and give her the potion. Now off with the two of you."

Merlin's face fell as he made for the door and Aislinn followed him wordlessly.

Aislinn's silence was due to the fact that she was still trying to process what she'd just witnessed in Arthur's chamber in her mind. In a way it excited her: there was someone who practised _magic_ who already lived within the King's very own castle. And… her vision; Merlin had been right by Arthur's side as Arthur lead the kingdom into a new era. However, the greater part of her was currently just dwelling in the shock of the realisation that _Merlin_… the boy she'd seen getting _stocked_ barely a few hours ago, was a _warlock._ He'd managed to wield magic without having to utter a spell- Aislinn, having grown up in the very midst of magic knew how much of a feat that was. To be so young and wield that much power… and yet… yet be a _servant_ to a complete and utter _pompous_ prince… Aislinn didn't get it. Merlin could be doing so much more with his life; instead, he served within a Kingdom where the likes of him were killed as soon as they were found.

Granted, her vision showed that one day he _would_ be someone everyone looked up to, as he stood along side Arthur, Aislinn still found this whole ordeal very shocking. She was almost beginning to question the integrity of her visions: not one had ever failed to come true in her experience and yet, she was starting to doubt it after having met Arthur and Merlin. There was no way _Arthur_ could ever come a great leader: he was far too selfish for that. And oh… someone as powerful as Merlin, having to constantly stand in his shadow? That surely couldn't be right.

"Oh goodness this smells disgusting." Merlin had, rather suddenly thrust a small opened bottle in Aislinn's direction, pulling her out of her thoughts. She looked down in a rather confused manner at the potion only to come to a halt.

Yes, it did smell disgusting. No one knew that better than her.

"That's it." Aislinn came to a halt and moved so that she was standing opposite Merlin now, her petite frame trying it's best to block Merlin's way forward. "How many of us _are_ there here?"

Merlin came to an abrupt halt, looking _very_ confused. "Uh…" he turned around to look over his shoulder, and then past Aislinn and looked back at her with an amused expression. "Two?"

Aislinn sighed, "I don't mean in the corridor!" She was frustrated: very frustrated. Here she was, in Camelot, thinking she was the only person who had any connection, what so ever, with the exception of Gaius, to Magic- and then came Merlin and this… this, Morgana.

"Then… what do you mean?" Merlin was starting to look a little scared. He'd only really known Aislinn for the day, but the two of them had gotten along from the very first moment they'd met- it'd just seemed like he'd known her forever. He supposed that happened if you spent every second of a whole day with someone, having to do chores for your master… but, he really hadn't anticipated for her to turn bipolar so suddenly.

She sighed, looking obviously frustrated, and Merlin's expression now had hints of concern creeping in. "I _mean_ Merlin," she lowered her voice considerably as she finished the sentence. "I mean, how many people are there in this castle who can wield Magic?"

This shocked Merlin. And the flicker of shock showed on his face. Just for a second; but it showed. Merlin, however, was quick to hide it.

"_Magic?_" His voice sounded completely and utterly amused as he started to chuckle, trying to maintain a confused look on his face. "_Me?_ Honestly Aislinn, you can't just go around saying things like that! If someone heard you, they'd have me killed!"

Aislinn sighed: of course. He wouldn't just come out and admit that he wielded magic to her; he barely knew her. It was just that after their day spent together… Aislinn somehow felt like they really did understand one another. Obviously, it wasn't enough. She looked around, before tugging onto his sleeve and pulling him into a sub corridor that lead to a dead end; luckily for her, Merlin, bewildered as he was, allowed himself to be pulled along. With Aislinn's frame, she could barely pull a table, let alone an actual person who could resist her.

"It's alright Merlin, you don't have to lie to me," she whispered, her eyes staring into Merlin's to get him to realise how serious she was being. "I _know._"

"You know what?" Merlin was putting on a good show; after all, he was used to it. He lied to everyone, day after day, about who he was; it wasn't hard to lie to one more person. "You're beginning to worry me Aislinn; I think your headache's just… getting a little out of hand. Maybe I should get you back to Gaius and go to Morgana after a moment." Merlin flashed her a sympathetic smile and tried to move past her.

She sighed, using just about all the force she could muster to pull on Merlin's arm so that he stayed in place. "I'm _fine._" She hissed, "You're not getting out of this Merlin. I'm being serious. I _know_ about you."

"Aislinn- I really don't know what you're talking about. Really, I think you're just tired."

"_Ugh._" She sighed, staring at Merlin with such intensity that he took a step back. "Merlin, I _saw_ you using magic to make Arthur fall. Or well… _nearly_ fall."

Oh crap. Merlin blinked at her for a minute, before forcing the fake laugh once again. "You think… you think that _I_ used _magic_ to try to make _Arthur_ fall?" He laughed some more. "However much I _wish_ I could do that, I can't. That was the wind." _Shit_, he had to be more careful: but he had been! How on _earth_ had she managed to see him do that? He didn't even use a spell, so she couldn't have _heard_ him.

Aislinn wasn't buying it. She _knew_ what she had seen, and she did _not_ like being lied to. "Merlin, do you know what the potion you're currently holding, is?"

"It's a sleeping draught, for Morgana. She suffers from nightmares."

"They're not _nightmares_ Merlin, you and I both know that!"

"I don't know what _you_ know Aislinn, but what _I _know is that Morgana _does_ suffer from nightmares, and she needs this potion _before_ she goes to bed! I don't know _what_ else you think they could possibly be!" Merlin sighed, not liking where this conversation was going. He'd been wrong about Aislinn- he thought that maybe he could come to become good friends with her; they already got on so well and had such a strong bond. But if she kept pressing on knowing his secret, he'd pretty much be a dead man.

That was it. Aislinn was done beating around the bush. "_Visions, _Merlin. They're _visions!_" she sighed. "And I know that because I have them too Merlin."

This made Merlin stop. He didn't turn around though.

"I'm a _seer_, Merlin," she whispered as she stayed in the same spot, her voice sounding like it was at the edge of breaking down. "I know what that potion is because I've had to take it pretty much throughout the whole of my childhood just to be able to sleep without getting constant snippets of the future." She sighed, feeling herself burn up. This was _really_ frustrating her. Why couldn't he just _admit_ to it and get it over with? Why couldn't he just _trust_ her?

Merlin turned around slowly, looking to find that Aislinn was somewhat shaking with frustration. She was magic too. This concept slowly dawned on him. Of course, she'd said _us._ Not how many of _you_ are there, but how many of _us._ He walked over to her quickly, his arms wrapping around her shoulders as he pulled her petite self into an embrace.

She tried to push against it, but she wasn't strong enough to manage that. He took a deep breath as he felt her shaking mellow down and felt her burry her face into his chest.

"I'm sorry Aislinn, but I couldn't just tell _anyone_ about me having M-"

"Merlin?"

A voice cut through Merlin's speech and Merlin hurried to let go of Aislinn, to turn around. A woman with olive skin, and dark hair, tied up into a messy bun with strands that fell gracefully on her face stood at the cross section between the sub-corridor and the main one.

"Gwen! We… we were just…"

Aislinn's face was still red but she was stable now, her eyes fell on the woman who Merlin had just called Gwen and she looked at her. Her face looked completely and utterly astonished, and Gwen's cheeks were starting to flush out of embarrassment. Aislinn didn't quite understand why that was.

"I… sorry, I thought I heard your voice…" Gwen turned to leave.

"No, no! You don't have to leave! We were just…" Merlin sighed. He was _not_ good at things like this. "Gwen, this is Aislinn. Aislinn… Gwen."

"Gwen? Is that really your name?" Despite her state, Aislinn couldn't help but ask.

"It's Guinevere, but everyone calls me Gwen. It's just… easier." Gwen smiled, her tone polite despite the thoughts that were going through her head. "Are you… are you okay?" she's only just noticed the hint of red in her cheeks and the way Aislinn clutched her torso. Any woman would have the common sense to figure out that the other person was at the verge of crying.

"I'm alright… I just-"

"It's just that Aislinn's horse recently died. And I was talking to her about Arthur's horse and how he makes me clean it so _often_… and well; she just got a little sad. I was just… making sure she felt better."

"Oh, I don't doubt that you were." Gwen hurried to say, trying not to make the situation even more awkward than it already was, but failed.

"Erm, thanks for that Merlin. You're just really kind." _Kind?_ Kind? What was the matter with her? She was _terrible _at playing along. Merlin and her exchanged a fleeting amused look. Aislinn's temperament was returning back to normal.

"So, uh, where were you off to Gwen?" Merlin asked, clearing his throat.

"Oh, to see Gaius: I think he forgot about Morgana's potion tonight."

"Oh, no, Gaius didn't forget! We've got it here." Aislinn said, before hastening to add: "I just… broke down while talking to Merlin, so I steered myself in here. I'm sorry, my… uh, stupidity, delayed Morgana's potion."

"Oh, that's alright." Gwen said sympathetically, still finding their story a little hard to believe, but not really being able to see a reason as to why they'd lie otherwise. After all, Merlin and Gwen were friends. If Merlin liked someone, he'd have no reason to hide it from her. "If you want, I'll take it to Morgana from here?"

Gwen looked at Aislinn, who turned to look at Merlin. He stared stupidly at Aislinn for a second before realising what had just been said. "_Oh, _yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Gwen." Merlin moved forwards and handed the potion over to Gwen who took it quickly and bid them good night, walking off in the direction in which Merlin and Aislinn were initially headed.

"Um Merlin," Aislinn mused tentatively, turning to look at him as the two of them began to walk back towards their chamber. "Why did Gwen look so embarrassed, when she found you hugging me?"

Merlin turned around to look at her with an amused smile, _his_ cheeks now tinting red. "Oh Aislinn, do me a favour," Aislinn looked at him quizzically, and he just chuckled. "Don't ever change."

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><p><strong>Bit of a long chapter there!<br>Reviews would be lovely to see how you guys are liking it! **


	7. Chapter 7: Apples and Witches

**Merlin is owned by the BBC! I only own Aislinn.**

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><p>Merlin and Aislinn were sitting on opposite ends of Aislinn's bed. Gaius had been kind enough to clear out a small room that was just full of old books and had a spare bed moved in for Aislinn. The two were trying to keep their voices as low as possible in order to not disturb Gaius, but it was hard. They'd both moved past their phases of shock and hesitation and they were now simply… well, excited.<p>

"So… can you do Magic?" Merlin asked, stretching his legs out.

"No," Aislinn said, stifling a yawn into the back of her hand, "I'm just a seer. There's only so much power a person can have before it drives them insane."

"And… you're from the Isle of Blessed?" Merlin was looking at Aislinn with amazement in his eyes. "I'm not sure I believe you."

Aislinn giggled. "Yeah, that's kind of how I felt when you first told me about those queer _stocks._ I can't believe those things actually _exist!_"

"Did you just compare the Isle of Blessed to _stocks_?" Merlin couldn't help but shake his head at Aislinn. She seemed to speak of Magic like it was the most normal thing in the world and she was amazed by the simplest of things such as_ stocks._

Aislinn laughed at Merlin's hopeless expression and a hint of red touched her cheeks. "So, you and Morgana are the only two people here? Who have a link to magic?" she asked, changing the topic.

"Well… as far as I know, yeah, but… Morgana doesn't know that her dreams are actually _visions._ She believes that they're dreams."

"Oh. That… must be awful for her." Aislinn's expression turned to one more full of concern. "Why don't you… tell her? It'll be a lot easier for her to deal with them if she knows about it."

"That what I think," Merlin agreed, "but Gaius says that its better she doesn't know. After all she _is_ the King's ward. Imagine what that would do to her: knowing that her own guardian wants her kind dead."

"Hmm, I didn't really think of it that way." Aislinn admitted. "But it must still be terrible for her," Aislinn's eyes turned slightly solemn, "and you, to be fair. It must eat you, not being able to tell anyone about your magic. I mean, don't you just want to _show_ them sometimes?"

Merlin chuckled. "Pretty much all the time, actually," he was grinning once again, "but if I _do,_ I'll be killed. So, given the choice, I'd rather stay alive and keep it to myself."

"Oh Merlin, you're _so_ very special. You don't know how _much_ people at the Isle have to practice, to be able to do magic without uttering incantations. And you can do it without so much as thinking about it." Aislinn sighed, "If only Arthur knew about how very special you are, maybe he'd appreciate you a little more."

"No… he'd have me killed instead." Merlin repeated, shaking his head. "You _have_ to remember Aislinn, Magic's outlawed. None of these people would appreciate _anything_ about me if they found out that I have magic."

Aislinn saw the impact those words had on Merlin. As he said them, something in his eyes stirred: sadness, frustration, perhaps even a little envy. Merlin had saved Arthur's life so _many_ times, and he hadn't till date got a single _thank you._ Not that Merlin really cared for Arthur's gratitude, but it _would_ just be nice to have these things noticed. To have people _know_ all that you do for them.

She wished she could tell him about the future she'd seen for Camelot: one where he and Arthur would stand alongside one another and Arthur would lead the Kingdom into a new era. She wished so, but she knew she couldn't. It was _very_ dangerous telling a person about their future: it often drove people mad and sometimes, people knowing about their futures tended to make them go out of their way to ensure that it did, or didn't happen, and the outcome often turned out to be the complete and utter opposite. The knowledge Aislinn was gifted with was _very_ dangerous.

"You never know Merlin, the future's constantly changing." She hinted cautiously, a mysterious smirk looking somewhat out of place on her innocent face.

"Ah, she's an optimist!" Merlin said sarcastically, before they both burst out laughing.

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><p>"Merlin! What in <em>God's<em> name are you doing in here?"

Aislinn woke with a start to find that she was hugging the foot-post of her bed and Gaius was standing in her doorway, his face was flooded with shock as his eyes darted from Aislinn, to something behind her and back to Aislinn again. Aislinn was just about to inform Gaius that her name was _Aislinn _not _Merlin, _when she felt something move on her bed.

She jumped a little, and turned her head to find Merlin sleeping in a rather uncomfortable looking position on her bed. She immediately straightened out, rubbing her eyes furiously. How long had they been up talking? She couldn't quite remember at which point she'd fallen asleep. To be honest, she couldn't remember half of their conversation at this point. It was far too early.

"Merlin!" Gaius repeated, and Merlin simply groaned in response. Aislinn sighed, still not having the ability to speak, so instead she threw her pillow in Merlin's direction. It didn't really seem to make much of a difference to him. "This boy wouldn't wake up if a troll were to sit on him." Gaius muttered his tone disapproving as he walked into Aislinn's room and pulled Merlin's ear. "_Merlin,_ I was under the impression that I had given you a bed of your _own_ to sleep on!"

"Ow!" Merlin groaned. "Five minutes, Gaius. Five minutes. Just let me sleep for five minutes more." He mumbled, shoving his face into the mattress.

Gaius sighed, looking over at Aislinn who was thoroughly amused by the scene in front of her. "He didn't hear a word I said, did he?" Gaius muttered with a sigh. Gaius turned to pick up a small steel jug which lay on the floor besides the bed and tipped its contents over Merlin's head. "Wake up _now_, Merlin and explain to me _what_ you're doing in _Aislinn's bed!"_ Perhaps it was the water, or the fact that Gaius was actually screaming now, but Merlin finally seemed to register what was going on.

He shot up with a start, looking around clumsily while trying to realise what was going on. Aislinn burst out laughing hysterically when their eyes met and he just stared at her in a very, very confused manner before a sheepish grin braced his face. "Did I fall asleep here?" Aislinn was too caught up laughing at Merlin to answer him.

"Obviously, you did Merlin, or else you would be waking up in your _own_ bed, wouldn't you?" Gaius muttered, rolling his eyes. Aislinn just laughed more.

Merlin picked up his pillow and threw it at Aislinn to stop her laughing. "D'you know when we actually fell asleep?"

"Not – a – clue," she said between her weak giggles.

Gaius rolled his eyes at the two, before he grabbed onto Merlin's shirt and pulled him out of bed. "Go get dressed Merlin, you've got work to do. You too Aislinn: go on, make your bed and get dressed."

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><p>Aislinn sat on a stool in the room, while Merlin was leaning against the wall by the door, Merlin seemingly okay with the lack of sleep, however Aislinn looking obviously tired. "How can you be so <em>normal?<em>" she complained, playing with an apple in her hand. Her tiredness seemed to make her lose her appetite. "I can barely keep myself from y-" she stopped talking to stifle a yawn into the back of her hand "yawning, every few seconds."

"You get used to it after a while." Merlin said with a wink, taking a bite out of his own apple.

Aislinn whined, while staring dully at her apple.

"Alright, I'm going to go wake Arthur up. Ah, he's amusing in the mornings." Merlin grinned at the mental image of a half-sleepy Arthur. "You should come see it, unless Gaius needs you. It's quite the sight."

"As it happens, I do actually need to speak to Aislinn for a moment." Gaius said, appearing from behind a column. "You can go Merlin; she'll catch up with you."

Gaius didn't sound like he wanted to negotiate anything at this point, so Merlin nodded and left with his apple in his hand and Aislinn smiled up at Gaius.

"How can I help?"

"I trust you know about Merlin, by now?" Gaius asked, raising his eyebrow in a knowing manner. Aislinn nodded slowly but looked confused: neither of them had exactly barged in and told Gaius that Aislinn knew that Merlin was a Warlock and that Merlin knew that Aislinn was a seer. "Oh, don't look puzzled. I could hear you two whispering like children all night."

"Oh," Aislinn looked apologetic, "I'm sorry, I hope we didn't disturb you."

"No, it's alright. I suppose it's probably quite… nice, for Merlin, to have someone to talk to." Gaius smiled for a moment, before his expression shifted to stern. "But I didn't keep you back to tell you off, Aislinn."

Aislinn neither encouraged nor discouraged Gaius to speak. She didn't quite know where he was headed with this conversation.

"I hope you understand, that you can not tell _anyone_ at all about Merlin. Or yourself, for that matter."

"Oh… I'd never tell," Aislinn assured him quickly

"No matter the circumstance Aislinn, I'm being very serious. _No one_ can know about Merlin."

Aislinn nodded, and Gaius took a deep breath. "Very well, you can go now."

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><p>Aislinn only turned one… or two wrong corners as she made her way to Arthur's room: thankfully for her, there were people everywhere seeing as it was dawn, so she managed to get directions whenever she found herself in a place she didn't recognise. It took her longer than it should have to get to Arthur's room, but she got there in the end. Once she got there, she wasn't quite sure as to whether she ought to knock on his door first, or simply open it and walk in. She chose to do the latter. After all, Prince or not, she didn't quite like Arthur. She wasn't going to show him any respect until he earned it.<p>

Bad decision on her part, that.

Turns out, there was already another woman in there. Her whole demeanour; the way she held herself, the way she dressed, made Aislinn feel inadequate in comparison. The woman's eyes turned to look at Aislinn, and an intrigued expression fell on her face. "Who're you?" she asked, not unkindly, but not exactly pleasant either.

"Oh, that's Aislinn. Aislinn, this is Morgana." Merlin was getting the hang of this introduction thing.

Aislinn smiled in Morgana's direction, not really sure as to what she was supposed to say to her. She looked completely different to how Aislinn had imagined her to look: Aislinn had somehow pictured someone very… well, different, in her mind. She didn't look like someone who suffered from night tremors or had visions. Instead, Morgana _looked_ like she could be Queen; she held an air of authority around her that just automatically made people want to impress her. For some reason, Aislinn didn't quite like that: Morgana was beautiful, yes, but something about the way her eyes simply glazed over people, without much intensity to them… it sent a slight chill down Aislinn's spine.

"Oh, so _you're_ Aislinn." A slight smirk curved Morgana's lips, and that immediately caused Aislinn to raise her eyebrows.

"Yes, I am," she replied in a defiant manner, not really liking the tone of Morgana's voice when she said that. It seemed like Aislinn wasn't the only one who'd picked up on the snarky hint in Morgana's voice.

"You make it sound like she's already got a reputation for herself, Morgana." Arthur's voice was somewhat curious as he leaned casually against his breakfast table and picked up a goblet to drink.

"Oh, not really a reputation; Gwen just told me about her and Merlin though."

Arthur all but choked on his drink, as Merlin's face switched from looking amused to being stunned. "Aislinn… and _Merlin,_ did you just say?" Arthur turned around to look at Merlin with a look of complete and utter disbelief.

"Gwen said she found them hugging each other in a little corner somewhere, yesterday." Morgana's voice and facial expression were getting cheekier with every word she spoke. Aislinn did _not_ like it.

"I was upset and Merlin was just trying to calm me down," Aislinn shot back. She really ought to stop coming to Arthur's room: it seemed like every time she was here, she seemed to get into some kind of an argument with someone or the other. "There was nothing going on."

"Oh, I didn't say there was. I was merely commenting," Morgana said, raising an eyebrow at Aislinn, looking somewhat smug.

"Well your comments aren't welcome." She muttered under breath, sounding obviously annoyed.

Morgana looked taken aback, "Pardon?" Sure, Morgana normally liked people who spoke their minds, but there was a difference between speaking your mind and answering back.

"I said that your comments are _not_ welcome."

Arthur and Merlin both looked completely and utterly taken aback with the slight venom that lurked in the two women's voices while the 'spoke' to one another. Merlin had thought that Aislinn and Morgana would have gotten on rather well, seeing as Aislinn could probably sympathise with what Morgana was going through. It seemed like he'd been mistaken. Arthur on the other hand couldn't decide whether he ought to be impressed with Aislinn's courage to speak her mind in front of anyone, regardless of their title, or hide her in a cupboard for being so completely and utterly _stupid._

"You have to excuse her, Morgana," Arthur said, snapping out of his horror before Merlin. "Miss _Twig_'s new to Camelot. She's probably still… adjusting."

_Twig_. Ugh. "What is it with people constantly trying to justify the things I say?" Aislinn asked incredulously, looking first at Arthur and then over at Merlin. "I _mean_ what I say!"

Merlin was eyeing Aislinn with apprehension as he moved away from the table that he was dusting and walked over to her. "Aislinn, _breathe_." He placed his hands on her shoulders and caught her eye, giving her a look which pretty much told her to just _calm down._

"And they say there's nothing going on," Morgana hinted subtly.

Merlin considered Morgana a friend, but this was quite out of character for her. There was a thin line between joking and taking a personal stab at someone. Morgana seemed to have crossed into the latter field.

Aislinn was about to speak, but surprisingly, Arthur got there first.

"Stop being difficult Morgana, there's obviously nothing going on between Aislinn and _Merlin._" Arthur said those words with a tone that suggested that he was trying to convince himself more than Morgana. "By god if it were, there had to be something seriously wrong in the world."

"What's that supp-" a hand shot out and slapped itself onto Aislinn's mouth. Aislinn turned around to see that the owner of the hand was Merlin; a Merlin who'd decided that this conversation had reached its end. Despite how much he adored how naïve Aislinn was, it really would end up getting her in serious trouble some day. Morgana was looking curiously at Arthur, while he stared at Merlin's hand, mirroring the look of shock on Aislinn's face.

"What Aislinn means to say is, _thank you_ for your lovely compliment, Arthur," Merlin's face turned somewhat uncertain, "although I'm not quite sure whether that's such a good thing for _me,_ oh well." He sighed, "Aislinn, I'm pretty sure Gaius said he wanted to teach you… about the tonic… for… uh, for curing muscle pains."

Without giving Aislinn a chance to speak, Merlin grabbed her arm and had her out of Arthur's door, with his head popping out to stare at her. "_Go,_" he whispered, "_before_ you strangle someone!"

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><p><em><strong>Thanks to all who're actually reading this! I hope you're all enjoying the story!<br>Reviews always make me smile!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Arrogance and Persistance

**Merlin is owned by the BBC! I only own Aislinn!**

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><p>"I can't <em>believe<em> her nerve," Aislinn hissed as she sat on the wooden table, grinding a paste using more force than necessary for Gaius. "She was possibly worse than Arthur! And that is _bad._"

Gaius didn't look up from the book which he was currently reading, but he did roll his eyes. "Stop over reacting, Aislinn. I'm sure Morgana wasn't that bad."

"I am _not over reacting!_ You didn't hear her Gaius!" Aislinn was staring daggers at the paste, "She was_ awful._ I've never been more insulted in my life!"

"And now you're exaggerating. Calm _down_ Aislinn." Gaius' voice was blunt. He was used to this sort of behaviour from Merlin all the time, when it came to Arthur. He was past feeling sympathetic for Merlin and he felt having the same apathetic attitude towards Aislinn would be best for her. She came from an Isle where there really wasn't much of a hierarchy amongst people: most people were treated with equality, and being a Seer, Aislinn was probably used to more luxury than she was being given here. Gaius believed it'd be best for Aislinn to realise that not everything was going to go according to the way she'd like it to.

Aislinn growled: actually _growled_, with a scowl on her face as she practically started bashing the paste. Gaius felt the table shake due to the violence with which Aislinn stabbed at the paste and finally looked up from his book. "I think… that the paste is done now, Aislinn." He said, giving her a concerned look as he cautiously moved his hands forward to take the mortar and pestle away from her. "_Perhaps_ we should get you to start meditating in the mornings." Gaius suggested tentatively.

"Why do I need to meditate?" Aislinn asked, confused once again.

Gaius didn't seem like he wanted to answer that question, hence perhaps it was just his luck that at that moment there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Gaius called, and the door was pushed open, a pair of hands appearing on the door before a face and a body followed it. It was Gwen.

"The King has called for a court meeting," she said with a polite smile on her face. Her eyes shifted from Gaius' face to Aislinn, who didn't seem in much of a pleasant mood this time 'round either. Aislinn attempted a somewhat weak smile in Gwen's direction: she _looked_ so unlike her mistress. Gwen came across as being someone who was down to earth and caring. Although, she _had_ told Morgana about Merlin and Aislinn in the corridor the previous night… but, Aislinn had a feeling that the way the message had been conveyed to Morgana and the way Morgana repeated it had been very different.

"Thank you for delivering the message Gwen, I'll be on my way." Gaius smiled at Gwen, who returned the smile and shut the door before leaving. Aislinn turned her head away from the door and looked over at Gaius, still holding an annoyed expression.

"I think it best that you come with me as well," Gaius said after a second of thought. "I fear for this room if you're left alone in here in this state."

* * *

><p>Aislinn and Gaius were the last two to walk into the hall, Gaius walking in front and Aislinn shadowing him, her annoyance replaced by amazement. This chamber was absolutely <em>magnificent.<em> There were large columns along either side of the room, behind which were beautiful stain glass windows, through which light flooded into the room, throwing the three high chairs on the other end of the room into great relief.

Two of those chairs were occupied; on the one on the right, sat Morgana, authority radiating from her. A frown touched Aislinn's lips the moment she saw her. She pulled her eyes away from Morgana with ease, and instead her eyes fell upon a man: old, yet healthy, with a perfectly composed face as he waited for Gaius and Aislinn to join the group of people who stood facing him. Gaius hurried his steps and Aislinn followed.

"I apologise for the delay, Sire." Gaius said politely, not daring to look the King in his eye.

"That's quite alright Gaius," his voice was… cold. It had no traces of emotion what so ever.

Aislinn was standing between Gaius and Merlin now, the few people in the court standing in a slightly crooked semi-circle, with Arthur at the centre.

"Now that we're all here," the King cleared his throat. "Arthur, I'd like you to lead a hunting party to the north of the border. There's rumoured to be a creature that has the ability enchant its prey with music, to lure them in and then cause them to fall subconscious: however, it's weak. A few villagers who were up there found that one of their company fall prey to it, however they managed to wake him up and run before any real damage was done. I suspect this being is magical, therefore dangerous. I want it, and all of its kind killed."

Aislinn's head shot up from the floor and to the King's face, with shock overpowering her features. "You can't do that! They're not dangerous!" she said, not being able to help herself as she stared at the King, aghast.

It seemed like it was the first time Uther Pendragon had noticed Aislinn. His expression mirrored Aislinn's, but for _much_ different reasons. "How _dare_ you speak without having the permission to do so?" Uther's voice was no longer devoid of emotion, it was _angry._ "Who is this girl?"

"My apologies Sire," Gaius said quickly stepping in and putting a hand on Aislinn's shoulder. "This is Aislinn, she's my apprentice. She's a little… unwell."

"I am _not_ unwell!" Aislinn said, outraged as she shrugged out of Gaius' hold. "The creatures you speak of are called _Oscen._ They're just simple _songbirds._ They aren't _dangerous._ Their melody is like a lullaby: it puts a tired mind to rest! They would _never_ hurt anyone!"

"How _dare_ you speak to me like that? Have you no manners, no _respect_ child?" Uther didn't really seem to care much for _what_ Aislinn was saying: he was more concerned by the fact that she was speaking to him as if he were on the same level as her.

"I'm just trying to stop you taking innocent lives! They're a race of _peace_!"

"They're _magic,_ you foolish girl! Magic is _always_ dangerous. How is it that you know so much about them anyway? Do you _sympathise_ with or _practise_ magic?"

Aislinn hesitated. Just for a moment; "I know about them because I've travelled a lot. I… I am learning how to treat animals, from Gaius. I've come across them before: you _have_ to listen to me, they're not dangerous! They're _very_ peaceful. They just try to _help_ people."

"Magic never helps _anyone_!" Uther shouted, his eyebrows pulling together in fury. "I do not know which land you hail from girl, but I am making it clear, any sympathy towards Magic or any _creatures_ of Magic will _not _be tolerated in Camelot! Do you understand me?"

Aislinn stared at Uther, before she felt a hand on her shoulder once again. It was a different had this time though. She turned around and saw Merlin giving her a look that clearly told her to shut up if she valued her life. Merlin, _Merlin_ of _all_ people! Aislinn had heard a lot about how cruel the King of Camelot was when it came to Magic, but she'd never believed it until right this moment.

Aislinn turned to face Uther and nodded once. Her eyes fell on Morgana who looked _very_ smug. A scowl made its way back on Aislinn's face as her eyes took to the floor.

"I'd appreciate it if you taught your apprentice a code of conduct, Gaius." Uther said icily, his eyes sparing Aislinn a glance before they moved over to Arthur.

During that whole conversation, Arthur and every other member present in that court had their eyes fixed on Aislinn. Most seemed stunned by her outburst, but somehow, Arthur looked _impressed._ Of course, he thought that it was incredibly foolish of Aislinn to speak like that to his father, the _King_ of Camelot, however he actually wasn't surprised. He was getting used to her foolish bravery; it was almost starting to grow on him, even though he'd only known her for two days. She was… different.

"Now," he said with a deep sigh, "Arthur, you will take off with the hunting party before nightfall. I want these menaces taken care of as soon as possible. You can speak to Gaius before leaving, to learn more about these creatures before you leave."

Arthur turned to look at Gaius, who nodded at the King and Arthur in turn. Arthur turned to face his father and bowed his head, "As you wish, my lord."

"Very well, court dismissed."

* * *

><p>"Are you <em>stupid<em> Aislinn? That wasn't Arthur in his _bedroom,_ or even Morgana. That was the _King,_ in the _royal court._ What is the matter with you?" Merlin was speaking in an angry whisper to Aislinn as the two of them walked side by side out of the hall.

"_Stupid?_" she hissed back, _"Is that what I am for standing up for what I believe in Merlin?"_

"That was not the time, nor the place!"

"How can you of _all_ people just let them do that, Merlin?"

"_Because_ I value my life: there's being brave, and then there's just being _stupid,_ Aislinn!"

"_Mer_lin! We don't have time to sit around all day, come on. I need to get into my armour. We're leaving as soon as possible." Arthur's haughty voice cut through Aislinn and Merlin's whispered conversation, once they were out of the Court Room.

"I'm coming!" Merlin called back, giving Aislinn a stern look before he backed away from her, his eyes urging her not to be irrational about things, but Aislinn really wasn't having a good day.

Firstly, she was sleep deprived. Then she'd met _Morgana _and now this.

She sighed, turning around to make her way back to Gaius' quarters.

* * *

><p>"That really wasn't appropriate," Gaius's voice was stern as Aislinn and he walked into his quarter.<p>

"Oh, not you too Gaius," Aislinn muttered bitterly, "Merlin already told me how _stupid_ I was being."

"Well he wasn't wrong," Gaius said, walking over to sit by his book once again, "that really _was_ stupid, Aislinn."

"Am I the _only_ one who thinks that killing a race of _peaceful_ creatures is _wrong_?" Aislinn sighed, "I can't see how both you and Merlin just _stood_ there and said absolutely _nothing._"

"You can not defend _magic_ in front of the King. You might as well have been asking him to have you killed!" he said incredulously, _trying_ to make Aislinn see sense, however it didn't seem like Aislinn cared for their reasoning at this stage.

"_Someone_'s got to show him that not all magic is evil!" Aislinn insisted.

"What and you think that he will listen to _you_?" Gaius said, his voice gaining a tone of authority that even Aislinn didn't want to challenge. "You're _nobody,_ as far as the King is concerned Aislinn. Your word counts for absolutely _nothing._ The sooner you understand that, the more likely you are to live!"

Aislinn scowled, cupping her chin in the palm of her hands as she stared at the wall in front of her in a very annoyed manner.

"Stop sulking, Aislinn." Gaius said with a sigh shaking his head. "It's not going to change what has already happened."

Aislinn didn't reply and silence hung for a moment before Gaius spoke again.

"Now I need you to run me an errand," Gaius said and Aislinn turned to look at him with a disinterested face.

"What is it?"

"Seems like Merlin's left Arthur's chainmail in here," Gaius' eyes fell on the heavy silver top that lay on a foot stool not far from him. "You can go give it to Arthur now."

Aislinn's eyes widened and she was looking at Gaius with complete and utter disbelief. "You can't be serious."

"I am very serious Aislinn."

"I am _not_ going to go see Arthur and Merlin right now: e_specially_ not to go give them stupid armour so that they can go hunt the Oscen."

"Get on with it Aislinn," Gaius' tone was dismissive. She sighed, stomping her way to pick up the chainmail, before storming out of Gaius' quarters.

* * *

><p>She found herself outside Arthur's chambers, once again in a rather foul mood. She pushed the door open, once again, without really knocking. It's not like she was planning to stick around: she simply wanted to throw the chainmail at Merlin's head herself before storming out of Arthur's chambers too.<p>

When was she going to learn?

She pushed the door open and walked in, her eyes searching for Merlin but she couldn't see him anywhere.

"Well, that was very quick Merlin." Arthur' voice came from behind the dressing screen. "Did you run there and back?"

So, Merlin _wasn't_ here. Maybe she could just leave the chainmail and leave quietly… after all; speaking to Arthur would do nothing but make her feel even worse.

"Merlin?" Arthur's voice was enquiring, "You don't need to be quiet because you're _embarrassed_. If I'm honest with you, I actually thought your friend was being rather brave. Takes a lot of courage to stand up to my father. Sure, it was _foolish_ of her, but brave none the less."

Aislinn froze. Did Arthur actually just say something… _nice_ about someone? Something nice about… _her?_

"Merlin, _why_ are you being awfully quiet?" Arthur stepped out from behind the screen with a confused expression which soon switched to shocked. "Oh, Aislinn."

Aislinn's eyes grew wide as she saw Arthur step out from behind the screen. He was shirtless, and _oh my._ Aislinn felt as if she finally understood what Merlin meant about women finding Arthur attractive. Ever other time Aislinn had come across Arthur, it had been with some form of preconceived notion in her head and she hadn't really bothered to look past that to pay any attention to his physical appearance. But now that he stood there… _shirtless,_ well, a girl couldn't help but appreciate it.

"I... have your chainmail." Aislinn was staring a bit too openly at Arthur's chest and he seemed to notice it. A smirk appeared on his face.

"Merlin just went to get it," he commented casually, his arrogance coming through to his voice.

Aislinn's eyes flickered upwards at the smug look on his face as automatically rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he must've taken it down to polish it… or mend it… or something." Aislinn said, immediately snapping back to her normal self. The smirk on his face and the arrogance in his voice had ruined the brief moment of appreciation Aislinn had felt towards him. She made her way towards Arthur's bed to drop the chainmail, so she could leave as soon as possible.

"You know, I _did_ mean what I say about you being brave," he mused.

"I'm glad someone thinks s-" Aislinn's bitter mutter cut itself short as she turned around to find her way blocked by Arthur. She was quite short compared to him, therefore her face came up just to his chest; it wasn't a position Aislinn really felt comfortable with. Her eyes flickered upwards to see Arthur smirking down at her, and even though she tried, she couldn't get any appropriate expression onto her face.

"What's the matter?" There was enough space between them that Aislinn could move around Arthur if she wanted to, but it seemed like her legs had turned to jelly.

"N-nothing."

"You know, it's _okay_ to think I'm good-looking." Arthur said easily, taking a step closer.

"I do _not_ thing you're good looking!" Oh, how her face contradicted that.

"Really? Then _why_, Miss Twig, are you still staring at my chest?"

"You're really enjoying this aren't you?" she snapped, tearing her eyes away from his chest with considerable amount of effort.

"No," he said, a grin stretching wide on his face, and as Aislinn continued to stare at him, his grin only got wider. "Maybe a little."

"You really are insufferable," she hissed, trying to shove past him. Why did she even try? A single gentle shove was all it took from Arthur to push Aislinn right back.

"That's not what you were thinking a second ago." Arthur mused.

"You know, perhaps if you were even a _little_ less self-absorbed, women _could_ actually find you charming."

"Does that include you, then?" A wide grin was spread across his face as he placed either of his arms against the railing at the foot of his bed so that he was almost at eye level with Aislinn.

"Don't flatter yourself," she muttered hastily, her eyes moving away from his face, but his gaze followed hers, determined to embarrass her as much as he could. His eyes grew snarkier and his grin wider, so no one really could blame Aislinn for snapping. "Oh _please,_ wipe that stupid grin off your face! Regardless of how pretty you are, you're just about to go and kill a race of perfectly harmless creatures. If your arrogance isn't enough to have girls walking away from you, the fact that you kill in cold blood probably is!"

Arthur's grin shrunk slowly as he assessed Aislinn with his eyes. This whole thing with those birds… the O-whatever, really seemed to be bothering her. He could see the discomfort at the thought of him killing those birds in her eyes; he didn't know why, but just seeing her look discomforted and disappointed made Arthur seemed to want to correct it. "_Ouch._" He muttered, trying to keep his tone light, "Killing in cold blood? Isn't that a little extreme?"

Arthur had hoped that the comment would perhaps just lighten the mood and bring a small smile on Aislinn's face, but if anything it just made her even more annoyed. He sighed. "I can't defy my father's orders Aislinn, or trust me; I wouldn't lay a hand on those… birds."

"What _is_ it with your father?" she scowled, "Doesn't matter. You just go ahead and play the role of the obedient son, after all, who cares who's dying as long as father's happy!" She sounded more bitter and sarcastic than Arthur had ever heard her sound before. She actually looked _hurt._

Arthur stared at her, desperately wanting to do _something_ to make her feel better. There was only one thing in his brain at that point that substituted the 'something.' He knew he shouldn't have done what he did next, he realised that as soon as he did it, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it, or even feel sorry for it.

One moment, Aislinn found herself feeling hurt as she stared at Arthur, annoyed at the fact that everyone in this kingdom was just out to please the god damned King without caring about what was _right_. The next, she found that every comprehensible thought had disappeared from her head.

Instead, the only thing that mattered at that point was Arthur. His lips on hers, his palms on her arm. Their kiss was like a conversation; Arthur's arrogance was being met by Aislinn's persistence. It started off hesitant, both simply trying to prove their dominance, but it gradually built up to a point where their bickering kiss had turned into a fully fledged battle with neither person ready to back down. Aislinn knew that this wasn't right by any standards, she didn't even _like_ him for crying out loud, but she was trying to prove a point here; she didn't know _what_ her point was, but she _did_ know that she couldn't let him win.

"She's still new to Camelot. She doesn't quite know how serious the ban over magic is."

Merlin's voice came floating into the room, before he did.

Aislinn jumped against Arthur's body, her nails digging into his chest as she tried to get stabilise herself. Arthur's hand shot up to his mouth to stop him screaming as he looked incredulously at Aislinn, who's expression was somewhere between embarrassed, amused and apologetic.

He moved away from her as quickly as he could, turning his head to face away from the door so that he could catch his breath. Aislinn herself was now staring at the floor, trying to calm her heart down, which had been beating faster than she'd thought it capable.

"That doesn't excuse her for speaking the way she did, though."

Merlin, Gwen and Morgana walked into Arthur's room side by side; to find Aislinn and Arthur both looked eerily calm and rather awkward. Arthur turned around to face the three new comers and their eyes widened at the sight of Arthur's chest.

"What on earth happened there?" It as Morgana who spoke, unable to hide the amusement in her voice.

"A… cat scratched me."

"You don't have a cat." It was Gwen who spoke this time.

"It… came in through my window. Aislinn was just helping me get rid of it."

"Aislinn… _helped_ you?" Merlin's face had a ridiculous expression on it.

Aislinn had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing, and when both Merlin and Morgana turned to look at her to confirm Arthur's story.

"Oh… yeah. It leaped in from the tree," Aislinn indicated her head towards Arthur's window. "Arthur tried to shoo it off and it uh… caught onto his chest."

Merlin and Morgana didn't look like they believed this story in the slightest, but both were far too amused by Arthur's feeble attempt at a lie to really question it for now. Aislinn seized this as her escape.

"I shoulder get going." She muttered and hurried out of the room before either of the trio managed to snap out of their amusement and question her further. Arthur could deal with this one on his own.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I just wanna say thanks to everyone who's reviewed and subscribed to the story so far! I hope you guys are enjoying it!<br>Reviews are always loved!**_


	9. Chapter 9: Vicious

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only own Aislinn!**

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><p>An awkward silence hung in the air once Aislinn had gone.<p>

Merlin looked up, studying Arthur; his lips were swollen, he had scratch marks on his chest, his breathing was a little heavy and there was a smile trying to force its way onto his face.

Oh no.

"You kissed her didn't you?" Merlin's voice was incredulous as it cut through the silence in the air and her stared at Arthur like he was the stupidest person on this planet.

"No! Of course I didn't!" His voice was a little higher than it ought to have been.

"Oh my god…" Morgana's eyes grew wide as the amusement from her face slowly began to drain away. "You _did_ kiss her!"

Gwen's eyes were stuck to the scratches on Arthur's chest. "That girl is _vicious._"

"Well she's allowed to be!" Merlin said in his friend's defence, sort of glaring at Arthur, completely and utterly startled. "He _kissed_ her. _Why_ would you do that? Do you _want_ to die? You're lucky you just walked away with a few scratches!"

"She did not scratch me _because_ I kissed her!" Arthur said defensively, before realising that he'd just admitted to doing the crime.

"So you _did_ kiss her!" Merlin concluded, still startled.

"No! Yes! Maybe! No! Yes!" Arthur's response changed in harmony to Merlin's expressions.

"Why would you even_ want_ to kiss _her?_" Morgana's voice sounded more stunned than Merlin's did when she spoke, and Merlin and Arthur both turned around to look at Morgana with identical expressions that simply said _'what?'_

"I think the real question is how you walked away alive." Merlin turned back to look at Arthur.

"Don't you people listen? She didn't scratch me _because_ I kissed her! She scratched me because you _scared_ her when you came in!"

"So much for trying to keep it a secret," Gwen muttered

"I think you just took it the wrong way, Arthur." Merlin said ignoring Gwen, "_Maybe_ you just kissed her before we walked in, so when she scratched you, you _thought_ it was because she was scared, but really it was because… well, because she wanted to kill you."

"I can _confirm_ that I did _not_ kiss her just before you came in and she did _not_ protest in the slightest!" Oh his pride, Arthur could only _hope_ Aislinn never found out about this conversation.

"I don't believe you," Merlin said staring at Arthur. Merlin knew when Arthur was telling the truth and when he was lying… and well, this occasion happened to fall into the former category. But… that could _not_ be possible.

"She _had_ to have led you on." Morgana said, her voice still sounding dazed and stunned, and once again Arthur and Merlin turned around to shoot confused looks at her. Not only was what Morgana saying completely out of character for Aislinn, it also just sounded… like she was under some kind of trance. Her voice made it sound like she was going to go and eat Aislinn alive any second now.

Gwen was the only person who _didn't_ look confused at Morgana's tone of voice. Instead, she looked worried: very worried.

"Remind me _why _I'm explaining myself to you…" Arthur said suddenly, seemingly remembering that he didn't _have_ to answer to Merlin, nor Morgana, nor Gwen. Arthur picked up the chainmail from his bed and threw it over at Merlin. "Hurry up and get me in my armour Merlin, we have to get going!"

It seemed like the hunting trip had escaped everyone's mind until that moment.

"Gwen and I should get going," Morgana said, snapping out of her haze when she heard the clanging of the chainmail. "Have a good trip Arthur," she wished him, with a devious smirk forming on her lips as she lead Gwen out of Arthur's chamber.

"Don't just stand there and stare at me _Mer_lin, _get working_!"

"I can't _believe_ you kissed her!"

"My _armour_, Merlin!"

"I can't believe she kissed you _back_!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Okay, so this wasn't really a "proper chapter." I just really wanted to write out what happened in the room when Aislinn left for my own sake and when I was done with it, a friend and I thought it was actually kind of funny, so here it is!<br>**_

_**A proper chapter will be up tomorrow / later today!**_

_**(P.S: let me know if you guys don't want me to just randomly post up any more random linking bits that I write! Or if you **_**do**_** like them feel free to inbox/review and I'll add more of these! Also, I was wondering whether you guys preferred longer chapters or shorter ones? Inbox/review to let me know!) **_


	10. Chapter 10: Ouch

**Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only own Aislinn!**

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><p>Aislinn had walked into Gaius' quarters to find that Gaius had gone somewhere. She couldn't complain: had <em>he<em> seen her at this moment in time he was bound to have known that something was wrong… or at the very least different.

She was in a completely different mood to what she had been in when she'd left this chamber earlier.

She wasn't hurt anymore, no- not in the slightest, instead she felt… well, she felt _happy, _and that _really_ annoyed her. _Why_ was she happy? She'd walked back from Arthur's chamber with a stupid smile stuck to her face which she couldn't get rid off no matter how hard she tried. There was only one thought stalking her mind at that time:

Arthur Pendragon had kissed her…

She sat down absently on the edge of a stool, her legs crossed over and her elbows on her knee as her subconsciously fiddled with her nails whilst staring into space. Her eyes were getting even more unfocused and all signs of awareness were draining out of her face, because it was just then, as she sat down for the first time after the events in Arthur's room; after she'd managed to _finally_ rediscover the ability to breathe, that she'd managed to complete the recurring thought in her mind.

Arthur Pendragon had kissed her… and she'd kissed him back.

What the _hell_ had she done?

As the realisation of what had just happened dawned upon her, Aislinn felt a painful sensation at the back of her head; her mind automatically prepared her for a vision, but no mental images came. No, instead, the pain just grew worse, bringing Aislinn back to reality. Turns out, she'd just fallen off the stool and hit her head _quite_ hard against the side of the table. Ouch. Aislinn didn't move from the floor, still a little too stunned by her revelation as she rubbed the back of her head gently.

What on earth had possessed her to kiss _Arthur_? He was _pompous_ and _arrogant_ and completely and utterly _selfish_ for crying out loud. Granted, he _was_ good looking… _very_ good looki- _No!_

This was _Arthur._ What was _wrong_ with her?

A knock on the door paused Aislinn's internal conversation with herself. Aislinn pulled herself up off the floor and waited for the person to simply walk in: they didn't. "Come in," she said, still rubbing the back of her head with a somewhat pained expression on her face.

The visitor who came in wasn't expected, and to be fairly honest, nor was she welcome.

Morgana walked in with her usual air of authority and poise that could make any woman envious. Her face was calm and collected however a devious smirk lurked on her lips. Behind her followed Gwen, elegant and modest as ever, however her expression seemed worried… and as her eyes met Aislinn's, an apologetic glance was conveyed.

"Gaius isn't here," she said bluntly, her eyes flickering over to look at Morgana.

"I'm not here to see Gaius," Morgana said, her voice sounding almost playful. "What's the matter with your head?"

"I… slipped." Aislinn's voice was a mutter as she scowled at Morgana's smug face, she didn't know _why_ she disliked this woman so much, but there was just something about her… something about her eyes that reminded Aislinn of trouble.

"Oh?" A taunting grin touched Morgana's face. "I didn't quite realise it was _that_ powerful."

Oh great. Morgana was in the mood for riddles- well, _Aislinn_ wasn't. "If you've got something to say Morgana, say it."

"It's _Lady_ Morgana to you," she hissed, all signs of amusement disappearing off her face, "The King was right, you really do need to learn some respect."

"Respect is earned, _Morgana._"

"You're definitely in quite a mood for a girl who's just kissed the Prince."

Morgana stood back and watched the effect of her words on Aislinn's face. Aislinn's initial reaction was shock, but alas, wasn't it always? How did Morgana know? Aislinn's shock must have been apparent on her face because Morgana seemed more than pleased.

"Don't be ridiculous," Aislinn mumbled, her cheeks flushing.

"Oh please, stop lying; you're only embarrassing yourself further. Arthur told us all about how you kissed him after he left."

He _what?_

"He tries to be so chivalrous, he saved you the embarrassment while you were in the room, but really, he can't keep things to himself."

Aislinn's jaw was clenched as she stared at Morgana, _so_ very tempted to cause some damage to her smug face.

"So tell me Aislinn, what is it you're after? Do _you_ expect to _woo_ the Prince of Camelot? Perhaps you're after his gold?"

"My lady, I think we should leave." Gwen's timid voice came from behind Morgana. Seemingly the other two women had forgotten that Gwen was even here. Gwen had been standing behind Morgana this whole time, her eyes stuck on Aislinn. She watched Aislinn with a certain amount of admiration as her eyes were glared into Morgana's, refusing to look away despite all that Morgana had said. Her face was red; whether it was due to embarrassment or fury, Gwen didn't know, but she _could_ tell that Aislinn was on the verge of tears.

Morgana ignored Gwen, refusing to look away from Aislinn's face, "Or is this all just a little game for you, Aislinn? Do you enjoy playing with men? My, it certainly would make sense, wouldn't it? First Merlin… now Arthur, is this some kind of _hobby_ of yours Aislinn, because you really do seem to be an expert at it."

"Really my lady, I think that's quite enough!" Gwen's voice sounded exasperated as she stared at her mistress in disbelief. She knew of Morgana's feelings towards Arthur and why she'd feel the need to be protective… but this really wasn't pushing the boundaries. Morgana was practically terrorising the girl and Gwen really couldn't comprehend the reason why.

"Be quiet, Gwen." Morgana snapped, her eyes still lurking on Aislinn's broken face. "Aww, this sure is quite the sight, isn't it? I never thought I'd ever see _you_ at a loss for words Aislinn. What happened?" Her tone was patronising, much like her expression at this stage.

"Get out." Aislinn's voice cracked when she spoke.

Morgana smirked, "You're nothing more than a common girl. Arthur's probably going to forget all about you by the time he's back from this hunting trip."

"I said, _get out._"

"Do yourself a favour; save yourself the embarrassment and just… keep away from him."

"_Now!"_

The smile on Morgana's face was worth a hundred words as she stared at Aislinn, before turning around to walk away. Her job had been done. She could rest in peace tonight knowing that Aislinn wouldn't ever even think about laying her eyes on Arthur. It was easier for _everyone_ this way. After all, who was Aislinn anyway? Just a common girl, probably from some little village outside Camelot- Arthur getting involved with her wouldn't end well for anyone. Morgana turned around, walking wordlessly out of the door with Gwen behind her.

* * *

><p>"<em>Gaius… what happened in here?"<em>

"_This is how I found the quarters when I got back, although I suspect Aislinn had something to do with this. She's in a rather foul mood."_

"_Oh dear… it must have been because of Morgana."_

"_Morgana? What _is_ the matter with her and Aislinn?"_

"_I don't know for certain if I'm honest. Would it be possible for me to speak with her?"_

"_I'm not quite sure how safe it is to enter in there, but by all means, feel free to try." _

The door to Aislinn's chamber creaked open and Gwen cautiously leaned her head through the door. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Aislinn sat on her bed, glaring outside the small window in her room. She'd been sitting in this same position for almost two hours now, trying to figure out _why_ she came to this damned Kingdom in the first place. She was so _happy_ with her life at the Isle… and then she had that vision. That _stupid_ vision had bought her here… Aislinn's eyes flickered over to Gwen before look back at the window. She was not in the right frame of mind to speak to anyone. Gwen took her silence to be approval and entered, shutting the door behind her. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

**I'm really sorry! That took a while! I've just had exams and things going on so I haven't had much time or inspiration to write!  
>(Exams do that to you -.-) I'll try to make the next chap longer  more interesting! Hope this one wasn't too dragging!**

**Again; please feel free to point out anything you think isn't quite working! Reviews are always loved!**


	11. Chapter 11: Fireworks and Flames

**Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to the BBC! I only own Aislinn!**

_So, I believe I owe you all an apology- IF you're still looking out for this fic! I'm so sorry, my muse completely died on me and school had been taking up so much of my time off late that I had absolutely no energy to write! But since Merlin is back on TV and I got back into writing a couple of days ago, I figured I'd return back to my beloved fanfic and Aislinn as well! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, even though I've updated after ages!_

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><p>"Merlin! What happened to you!" Aislinn's voice cut through a conversation that Gaius and Merlin had just been having, as she stared shamelessly at Merlin. He looked terrible. No, really. Strands of his hair were knotted together with murk and his face… his face looked like it could do with a good scrub. His trousers had tears near the knee caps and Aislinn thought she spotted a slight cut near his cheek, but couldn't be too sure of it until she got a closer look. It appeared as though Gaius had been chastising Merlin about his condition just as Aislinn had walked in. She really couldn't help but stare as Gaius slapped a wash cloth on to Merlin's face to get the dirt marks off.<p>

Merlin lifted his head to look at Aislinn with a sheepish grin, "Arthur did."

Aislinn stared, most certainly confused. Had Arthur done that to Merlin? Well, it would certainly make sense: after all, Arthur wasn't exactly famous for the kindness he showed his servants. But still, Aislinn couldn't comprehend _why_ Arthur would do this to Merlin. It made no sense. The look Merlin was giving her though: the one with the slight gleam in his eye gave Aislinn the impression that he thought it should be obvious to her. It wasn't. She hurried down to Gaius and Merlin, offering to take the washcloth from Gaius to tend to Merlin herself. Gaius didn't protest as he walked away, mumbling quietly under his breath.

"Why would Arthur do that to you? I mean, not that he really needs a reason, but you look like _hell_. I knew you were gone on a hunting trip Merlin, but _goodness_ you're a right state!" Aislinn's animated voice sounded bewildered as she scrubbed a particularly adamant mark on Merlin's face.

"It wasn't really all that much to do with the hunting part of the trip, well, I suppose in a way it was, but not quite." His voice sounded somewhat thoughtful but it still had that hint of… something else to it. Aislinn couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It made it sound like he knew something he shouldn't and he was just waiting for Aislinn to clock on to what it was. "Mainly, I think I just annoyed Arthur, so he pushed me off my horse and into a nearby bush on our way back to Camelot! Just my luck that there was a puddle right behind the bush, and then he refused to stop anywhere to let me wash up either."

"That does sound like him," she admitted, still working on cleaning Merlin's face. Dear goodness, it looked awful. Really. "But… what did you do to annoy him that much? Although, it's not like you actually need to give him a reason to be annoyed at you." She rolled her eyes as she said that and Merlin's sheepish grin widened. Aislinn dropped the wash cloth on the table, exhaling loudly. "What on _earth_ are you so happy about, Merlin? Need I repeat that you look like _hell?_"

"Arthur did actually have a reason to shove me off my horse," Merlin said, the look of pure amusement stuck to his face. When Aislinn didn't say anything, he continued in a hushed whisper in order to ensure that Gaius didn't hear. "I think he got a little annoyed with my constant subtle hints about a certain _kiss_."

That did it. Aislinn's eyes widened with shock, as his words really sunk in. Aislinn had completely forgotten about that. Okay, so that was a lie. It was really all she could think about for the last two days, however, as it were, when she saw Merlin sitting out here, looking like something had chewed him up and spat him back out, it had temporarily flown out of her mind. Of course Merlin knew. Aislinn had already known that Gwen and Morgana knew; and when Gwen had spoken to her two nights ago, both the girls had in fact been rather amused by Merlin's reaction to finding out what had transpired before he had entered the room.

"Oh." It was the only sensible thing she could think of. Well, scratch that. It was the only thing she could think of.

"Were you planning on telling me at all?" Merlin didn't sound annoyed in the slightest. Not that Aislinn had really known what to expect from Merlin, however she wasn't really expecting him to speak to her so casually. Perhaps being away from two days had been a good thing: he had probably had time to wrap his head around it. So had Aislinn to be fair, therefore she had pretty much accepted the fact that it was probably just a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Even though Morgana's words had been laced with jealousy, there was one thing that she had definitely gotten right: Arthur was a Prince and Aislinn was just… well, as far as he was concerned, Aislinn was practically a servant. It wasn't ever going to work out. "Aislinn?"

Oh crap. She needed to think less and talk more. "I… uh…" Okay, maybe she had to think and talk at the same time. "It was nothing," she managed finally, with a nonchalant shrug.

"That most definitely isn't what your face says right now."

Aislinn made a face at Merlin, before hopping off the bench to go look in the mirror. Dear god was he right. She hadn't realized it but her cheeks had flushed pink and she looked… well, guilty. In a way, she was. That kiss almost definitely hadn't felt like _nothing,_ however in the last two days Aislinn had convinced herself that she had probably imagined the whole emotional part to it anyway. Her and Arthur: it wasn't meant to be. A distant part of her mind picked up chuckling and Aislinn spun around to face Merlin.

"It's okay Aislinn, Arthur didn't think it was nothing either," Merlin said evenly, although his face still looked amused. "Probably why he lead the whole hunting party down the wrong trail so that we didn't find any of the Oscen," Merlin shrugged, adding the latter bit as a simple after thought, not quite realizing what an effect that had on Aislinn.

"So you didn't actually kill any Oscen?" Aislinn asked, shocked.

"Nope, he'll just tell the King that it seems like they've moved out of our borders."

Before Aislinn really realized what she was doing, she found that her feet were carrying her towards the door.

"Are you going to kiss the Prince '_thank you_'?" Merlin asked, her voice taking on a mocking tone.

Aislinn paused in her footsteps, a small smile slowly creeping over her lips as she traced her steps back to Merlin, before picking up the bucket of water and turning it upside down on Merlin's head. She left the bucket there as she walked to the door once more, a part of her mind replaying a conversation that had taken place between Merlin and her during her first day at Camelot, where Merlin had told her that Arthur had done a similar thing to him.

It seemed as though Merlin was thinking the same thing, because just as she walked out the door, she heard his voice calling after her, "I didn't realize that you exchange personalities when you kiss!"

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><p>As per usual, Aislinn didn't bother knocking on Arthur's door and for once in her life, she didn't regret it.<p>

Arthur was fully clothed and alone, leaning against his bedpost as he adjusted the sleeve of his shirt. It seemed as though Arthur had already changed out of his hunting clothes and back into his expensive home – or well, Palace – clothing. He looked startled at first, but then his face took on a knowing expression. "Of course," he muttered "It had to be you Miss Twig. Everyone else _knocks._"

Aislinn rolled her eyes. "It's a waste of time," she replied, her eyes now taking to study Arthur. She hadn't ever really appreciated how handsome he was: the last time they had spoken, things had progressed so quickly and she had been in such a dull mood that even though Arthur had been shirtless, she didn't feel like she had gotten a good enough view of him. This time however, owing to her good mood and the events that had occurred the last time she had been here, she had a new kind of appreciation for his looks; despite him actually having clothes on this time.

"_Always_ ready with a retort," he commented, a smirk curling on his lips as he shook his head. "I wonder… do you have all of these written somewhere? You can't possibly come up with all of them yourself."

"Just because you're incapable of being witty doesn't mean others are too." Why was she even here? She hadn't come to banter with him. Although, she had to admit it, she _was_ enjoying herself a little more than she ought to have. It appeared as though Arthur was on the same boat as her.

"And there's another one! Well done!" Arthur mocked a surprised face at her, clapping his hands in a slow exaggerated manner, moving away from his bed and closer to the door, against which Aislinn stood, closing most of the space between them.

"Oh, how very mature of you,"

"Mature? Certainly not! Although, I am very capable of being very mature. You would know."

And there it was. Arthur had a smug look on his face, he didn't seem quite as embarrassed by the situation as Aislinn was, but then again, he was a man. For a second there, Aislinn was so tempted to slam the door on his face and walk out, however, the not-so-subtle hint at their kiss had Aislinn's heart fluttering in her chest; or maybe the heart thing was because Arthur was most definitely in her personal space.

"I… I came here to thank you," she muttered, her cheeks flushing again. "Merlin told me how you followed a false trail for the trip," she bit her lip, "really, thank you." She was talking to her feet, although she could've sword she all but felt the glee cross Arthur's face at her words.

"Well, it _was_ at a huge risk that I did that you know," Arthur's arrogant voice snapped Aislinn out of her little girl bubble. It always did. "I mean, if my father – the _King –_ finds out what I did. Well, I doubt he'd be very happy with me."

Aislinn sighed, looking up to glare into his eyes, which were twinkling almost identically to the way Merlin's had been. "I know," she said, trying her level best not to sound ungrateful, but it was easier said than done- ugh, that smug look on his _face_. "Thank you."

"I'm not sure I'm feeling the gratitude here, Miss Twig." He extended his arm to hold her wrist. She could've sword she felt her skin burn at the contact- and it wasn't in a bad way.

"I already thanked you," Aislinn hissed, not really sure as to where this was going. She didn't quite know what else she could've said: especially with him holding her hand. She had practically turned to jelly at his touch, but she really wasn't going to let him know that. She wasn't stupid; she knew he would never really think of her that way and it wasn't appropriate for her to feel like this either. After all, he was a pompous and ignorant _idiot._ Really, what was the matter with her? "I'm not grovelling to have you accept my gratitude or anything."

Aislinn was being _very_ serious when she said that, which was perhaps why she couldn't quite understand _why_ Arthur was laughing. She was still very much conscious of the fact that his hand held on to her wrist and _that _mixed with his laugh? It was making Aislinn feel things she didn't want to feel. Arthur's expression sobered after a few seconds after he seemed to realize that Aislinn hadn't said that to be funny- she really was being serious. Their eyes locked, both of them staring intently at one another, each trying to figure the other out.

And just like that, it happened again. Their lips were locked.

Unlike last time, there was no slow bickering build up with their kiss. It was fireworks and flames from the first touch. Aislinn felt her back slam into the wall behind her, but the pain she felt was the last thing on her mind right now. All that mattered was Arthur; his lips, his touch, his hands on her waist. When the both broke away for breath, slow ecstatic smiles spread across their lips.

"I didn't think we'd be doing that again," Aislinn admitted, her face feeling hot, although she wasn't sure if that was because of the kiss or because she was starting to blush again. Probably both.

"What on earth gave you that impression?" Arthur's breathing was heavy, but he still managed a chuckle, his eyes studying Aislinn with an expression that made her feel queasy.

This all felt really weird to Aislinn; the whole fluttering heart, butterflies in her stomach, the chill down her spine at every touch. She wasn't used to feeling like this. And that question- she couldn't reply to that. Telling him she didn't know if she was worthy of him… no, there was no way in hell, not even with a hormone meddled brain, would she boost his ego like that. They weren't quite there yet. Which was perhaps why, the next words out of her mouth would've come as a surprise to Prince Arthur. "You left a bad taste in my mouth," she mused, trying to keep as straight a face as possible.

Arthur seemed genuinely taken aback; enough to have finally let go of Aislinn. He was actually speechless at her comment and Aislinn spotted this as her escape. She flashed Arthur a grin, opening the door behind her and stepping out, hurrying to shut the door before he regained the ability to speak. No sooner had she taken a few steps away from his room though, did she find her shoulders being caught by Merlin. She stopped a shriek in her throat, staring wide eyed at Merlin, who seemed to be wearing that amused look on his face like his neck-tie today.

"How's the pompous prince, then?" asked Merlin, grinning.

"Not so pompous," replied Aislinn, thinking back to Arthur's affronted face which caused a grin of her own to appear. "We'll make a King of him yet."

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><p><em>Reviews are love!<em>


	12. Author's Note

_Hey guys! So, I know I haven't worked on this story in forever, but I was wondering if any of you were still interested in reading this if I decided to carry on writing?_

_Cheers - Maks_


	13. Chapter 12: The Unexpected Visitor

_**Disclaimer: All rights belong to the BBC! Only Aislinn is mine.**_

_**I have to say, I was flattered by the number of people that still wanted to read this! Even if one person would've expressed any interest I probably still would've carried on writing. I'm sorry if there seem to be any gaps / details that seem out of place! It's been a while since I've written here and I tried my best to make it seem as continuous as possible. Thank you so much for baring with me! Hopefully I'll be updating this a lot more frequently now! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

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><p>Almost a week had passed since Merlin and Arthur's return from the hunting trip and things had started to fall in to somewhat of a routine around the palace. Aislinn became more and more accustomed to living in Camelot: while she still hated that she was expected to constantly walk on egg shells around people and actually treat the likes of the <em>King<em> with respect, she was getting better and hiding her disapproval and discomfort – at least to a certain extent. She still bickered wildly with Arthur every time the two crossed paths, which seemed to be more and more often as of late since Arthur would somehow always manage to find his way to Gaius' quarters, claiming to look for Merlin or Aislinn would somehow manage to find her way to Arthur's chamber, using pretty much the same excuse. Despite their frequent meetings, after the second time they had kissed, neither of them had bought up the event or made any moves to try to recreate it. Merlin wasn't entirely sure as to how he felt about the whole thing between Aislinn and Arthur, but he trusted Arthur enough to not hurt Aislinn and he trusted Aislinn enough to not get herself into _too _much trouble. Despite his forthcomings for each of their sanity, he was, deep down, happy for his friends – however, the same could not be said for all the residents of the Palace.

The sun was beating down on the Palace grounds as Aislinn and Merlin walked side by side, Merlin carrying bits and pieces of Arthur's armour while Aislinn held a laundry basket with his clothes in it in her hand. The two of them were speaking animatedly with one another, talking about something that seemed rather funny since neither of them could really move a few feet without needing to stop to catch their breath from laughing, when Merlin suddenly looked up, squinting past the glare of the sun.

"Oh look," Merlin said suddenly, distracted by a figure moving towards them as he tried to stifle his laughter the best he could, "Isn't that Gwen? Hey, Gwen!"

Gwen was in fact rushing forwards and she came to a halt in front of them, a slightly uncomfortable smile on her lips because she usually disliked interrupting Merlin and Aislinn when they were together because she always felt like she was intruding.

"Hello Merlin! Aislinn!" she greeted, trying to be merry as she continued to smile at the two of them, panting ever so slightly.

"You seem to be in a hurry." commented Aislinn lightly, trying to be pleasant. Aislinn quite liked Gwen: she seemed to have her heart in the right place even though she worked for people Aislinn didn't quite approve of.

"Oh, well, I suppose I am. Morgana and the King asked me to fetch Aislinn for them." she said breathlessly, wiping sweat off her brow as her eyes shifted to look at Aislinn, kindness lurking behind her discomfort.

"Ah! I heard Morgana was back!" Merlin mused lightly, giving Aislinn an amused look because he knew that the two seers did not get along in the slightest. "But what do they want with her?"

Aislinn narrowed her eyes lightly at Merlin, fighting back a smile before she looked curiously at Gwen, wondering the same thing.

"Not a clue, but Morgana sent word ahead and specifically requested for Aislinn." A worried note lurked in Gwen's voice, and Merlin and Aislinn exchanged a look unable to help themselves, both looking equally as confused as the other.

"Why would Morgana want me?" Aislinn asked suspiciously.

"Perhaps she wanted to scratch your eyes out and the King thought it'd be amusing to watch his ward destroy the girl who spoke out against him in a court meeting!" Merlin sounded more amused than he ought to, his grin returning back to his face as he eyed Aislinn.

Aislinn rolled her eyes at him, shoving her laundry basket into his already filled arms while sticking her tongue out at him childishly. "Better get going then," Aislinn said instead, turning to look at Gwen. "We wouldn't _possibly_ want to keep the King and his ward waiting!" Sarcasm dripped rather heavily off her words and Gwen struggled to hide her smile because she didn't want to seem disrespectful to her mistress.

Merlin, who was struggling to balance himself with everything in his arm, peeked over the laundry basket. "Gwen, come and get me if there's a cat fight, will you?!" he called out, a teasing edge to his voice. The girls each turned around unanimously, rolling their eyes at Merlin before they turned back around and hurried away.

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><p>Aislinn and Gwen didn't speak much save for the odd pleasantries here and there as they made their way towards the dining room where Aislinn was supposed to be meeting Morgana; the last time Aislinn had seen Morgana had been the day when Arthur and Merlin had returned from their hunting trip. Morgana had seemed more on edge with Aislinn than she had done before, which was saying something since the girls were usually at each other's throats without any reason: but this had seemed different. Far more personal. That evening, Morgana had set out alone on her horse, but instead of returning home, she had sent word saying that she was staying with a 'friend' and would be home 'soon.' She had sent word daily to reassure everyone that she was safe and it seemed like she had finally decided to come home.<p>

The guards outside the dining room opened the door for Gwen and Aislinn, and the girls smiled their gratitude at the guards. However, no sooner did Aislinn set foot in the room, did she stop moving entirely, her eyes focusing in on something, or rather _someone_,who most definitely wasn't Morgana.

"Aislinn. _Excellent._" Morgana's authoritative voice snapped Aislinn's eyes away from the other woman in the room, but her body still remained somewhat frozen in shock.

Aislinn's eyes widened, a bitter expression crossing her face as she readied herself to open her mouth, a hundred furious questions dancing on the tip of her tongue, but before she could release any of them onto the present company, which she now realised also consisted of the King, she felt something touch her mind.

'_I wouldn't, Aislinn. Believe me.'_ Her eyes turned to look at the woman; her golden hair falling gracefully over her shoulders as she sat with poise and grace. She had the same, high cheekbones as Morgana did and the kind of beauty that made everyone feel in awe around her.

"This is my friend, Lady Morgause." Morgana's voice once again pulled Aislinn out of her stunned bubble, the confusion only growing more intense on her face by the minute. _Lady_ Morgause? This couldn't be right. "She will be staying with us for a while," continued Morgana, completely over-looking the discomfort on Aislinn's face. "While she is here, I expect that you will take wonderful care of her!"

"Pardon me?" Aislinn couldn't hold it in any longer: this didn't seem possible. The woman that stood before her was in fact called Morgause, but she was no Lady, of that Aislinn was sure.

"You heard me," Morgana mused icily, raising an eyebrow at Aislinn. "The Lady Morgause will be spending some time with us here in Camelot and I thought of no better person to look after her."

"I have to say Morgana, she doesn't seem all that pleased by the prospect. I don't want to be of any bother." Morgause spoke up for the first time, her voice sounding identical to how it had in her head; identical to how Aislinn remembered it. Smooth and rich, with the sort of command that only those who were accustomed to power could ever wield. In a way, Morgause _was_ royalty, but not quite in the sense that Morgana seemed to think.

"Nonsense!" Uther spoke up at last as well, his eyes finally lifting up to acknowledge Aislinn; thus far, he had simply busied himself in a scroll on the table. "You are our guest, Lady Morgause and our _servants_ will be here to make sure your stay is nothing but of the _utmost comfort._" He looked pointedly at Aislinn, daring her to challenge his words and while Aislinn would have liked nothing better than to do that, she knew full well that this wasn't worth risking her life over. The King was not a forgiving man.

"I – yeah, _yes._ It's no bother." Aislinn's face certainly said otherwise but she clenched her teeth and managed the words regardless, her eyes flickering back to Morgause.

"That's a _bit_ better," said Morgana, glancing away from Aislinn and looking at Morgause instead. "She's a little firecracker, her. I wouldn't mind it too much: she doesn't quite seem to understand our ways." She whispered as she spoke to Morgause, however the whisper was loud enough that it carried down the hall. Aislinn knew that Morgana had meant for her to hear it.

"Oh, I see that." said Morgause, giving Aislinn a bittersweet smile, one that was met with an icy expression on Aislinn's end. "But don't worry, I knew someone a rather _lot_ like her, once."

Morgana smiled, as she rose from her seat, Morgause following suit as they bid their farewell to Uther. Aislinn finally tore her eyes away from the trio before her, looking away to try to compose herself and figure out what was happening. Instead, her eyes met Gwen's. She'd forgotten that Gwen was still in the room – Gwen not only looked out of place, but she looked extremely concerned for Aislinn. She shot her a look as though she were asking her if she was alright, and Aislinn shook her head ever so slightly.

"Aislinn?" Morgana came to a halt in front of Aislinn, Morgause by her side. "Would you please escort Lady Morgause to her chambers? I had Gwen prepare the one next to mine." she smiled coldly at Aislinn, before looking at Gwen, a hint of warmth filling her features. "I would like to pay Arthur a visit, Gwen. If you'd like to come with me?"

Gwen looked between Morgana and Aislinn, feeling uneasy but nodding because she knew better than to refuse Morgana and seeing no way out of this, Aislinn nodded, meeting Morgause's eye briefly, feeling a chill run down her spine before she turned away. The air was thick with tension as the four women exited through the grand double doors.

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><p>"What in the name of <em>hell<em> are you doing here?!" Now that Aislinn and Morgause were finally alone in Morgause's chambers, Aislinn felt like it was about time she said something.

"My, my," Morgause taunted lightly, smirking rather smugly at Aislinn, "It looks like they've managed to tame you some, _Seer._ The Aislinn I knew wouldn't have lasted half as long as you did: I must say, I'm impressed."

"Do _not _play games with me Morgause! What are _you _doing in Camelot?!" she snapped, narrowing her eyes.

"Ah, so _impatient!_" she tsk-ed, shaking her head. "You're a seer, Aislinn. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

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><p><em><strong>I would love any and all reviews! 3<strong>_


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